Category: Pacific

Mangroves in Bon Taung village, Myanmar, by Green Network Tanitharyi Region (GNTR) The villagers had previously been unable to stop the purchase of an initial tranche of land, but when the company returned in an attempt to buy another 283 hectares of mangrove, locals were prepared; they had received a Securing Community Forest certificate, which served as a bulwark against… Read More

The alert from the UN Children’s Fund, comes as Sri Lanka continues to suffer its worst financial slump since independence in 1948.  Mr. Laryea-Adjei reports that, “families are skipping regular meals as staple foods become unaffordable. Children are going to bed hungry, unsure of where their next meal will come from.” “As the economic crisis continues to rattle Sri Lanka,… Read More

UN Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn announced the plan on Friday at the conclusion of an 11-day mission to the country.  Although Cambodia has achieved much internationally-recognised progress, and ratified most core human rights treaties, he noted that a “pervasive paradox” persists.  “Since 2017, when the main opposition party was disbanded unjustly by judicial order, the country has effectively been under… Read More

Some one million refugees remain in the vast camps of Cox’s Bazar, without any immediate prospect of being able to return home, which more than 150,000 mostly-Muslim Rohingya are still “confined in camps” in their native Rakhine state, said a statement issued on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Today marks five years since the start of the forced mass… Read More

In the latest incident, some five Afghans, including a family comprising three children and their mother, were returned home to Afghanistan, despite UNHCR’s protests. “Tajikistan must stop detaining and deporting refugees, an action that clearly puts lives at risk,” said Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR’s Director of International Protection. “Forced return of refugees is against the law and runs contrary to the… Read More

“The latest exodus from Myanmar is now officially defined as being a protracted situation,” UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists at a regular press briefing in Geneva. Stepped up assistance Since the onset of the humanitarian crisis, the Bangladesh Government, local communities and aid agencies have been quick to assist refugees arriving in what is now the world’s largest refugee camp in… Read More

“This colonial era law has more broadly impacted and stigmatised the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people as a whole”, said High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. She stressed that everyone was entitled to the equal protection, respect and fulfilment of their human rights, including all in the LGBTIQ+ community. Paving the way “Repealing Section 377A will help pave… Read More

“We deplore yesterday’s attack in a Kabul Mosque, the latest in a disturbing series of bombings which have killed & injured more than 250 people in recent weeks, the highest monthly number of civilian casualties over the last year,” UNAMA said in a short statement posted on Twitter. On Wednesday, news media cited police in reporting that a huge explosion… Read More

When Ruchika found out she was pregnant with her second child, in October 2021, she could not have imagined that she would find herself, hours before delivering her baby, in a crowded distribution queue, pleading for fuel to get to the hospital. “The majority of the crowd was sympathetic,” Ruchika recalled. “The authorities allowed me to buy the fuel I… Read More

Her visit follows the Security Council’s latest call for an end to the violence and unimpeded humanitarian access to the Southeast Asian nation. Ms. Heyzer, a women’s rights activist from Singapore, will focus on addressing the deteriorating situation there, according to the UN.  News agencies cited security officials who wished to remain anonymous in reporting that Ms. Heyzer, landed in Naypyidaw… Read More