HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: Displaced Rohingya people in Rakhine State. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

There's More to the Catastrophe in Myanmar than Meets the Eye

By Shishir Gupta | Courtesy Hindustan Times*

The United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein has described the situation in Myanmar a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Secretary-General António Guterres has called for Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state to be granted nationality or at least a legal status that would allow them to lead a normal life, while also urging the international community to help provide assistance for the nearly 380,000 people who have fled into Bangladesh. Indian journalist Shishir Gupta highlights a hitherto overlooked aspect of the situation: "the bloody contribution of Pakistan-based jihadist groups to this catastrophe." – The Editor

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 15 September 2017

Photo: Delegates attending the fifth thematic session of the General Assembly for the Global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration. Credit: UNIS Vienna.

Experts Explore Pathways for the Global Compact for Migration

By Julia Rainer

VIENNA (IDN) – "Smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, including appropriate identification, protection and assistance to migrants and trafficking victims," was the title of the Fifth thematic session of the UN General Assembly hosted on September 4-5 by the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV).

The event aimed at supporting the inter-governmental process designed to lead to the adoption in 2018 of a global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration – a goal agreed by the member states when adopting the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants in September 2016.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 15 September 2017

Photo: Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The camp is one of three, which house up to 300,000 Rohingya people fleeing inter-communal violence in Myanmar. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Suu Kyi Slams “Disinformation” As Information War Intensifies

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) - The information war on Myanmar’s Bengali/Rohingya problem has intensified as Myanmar’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung Sung Suu Kyi finally broke her silence on the issue on September 6 and slammed the international media and human rights organisations for spreading “misinformation” on the conflict.

One day earlier, the London-based Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) launched a report in Bangkok bashing Myanmar’s Buddhist majority. The following day India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi making his first official bilateral visit to neighbouring Myanmar pledged Indian support to fight cross-border Islamic terrorism.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 September 2017

Image credit: Asia Foundation | United Nations

Violence Against Women Is Still An Unresolved Issue

By Afreeha Jawad

COLOMBO (IDN) - Having grown up in a biological family unit that upheld male domination, envied and resented female intellect, with a mother that declared in no uncertain terms that even though crestfallen a male is a male, Fathima's ears soon were not alien to such sexist remarks but the bitterness that swelled inside was inexpressible.

Maternal discriminatory insistence that even vehemently once asked, "if they can tame a wild elephant then why not you?" simply threw this child off board. There was no one in whom she could have faith to spell out all her agony. Fathima's utter consternation, dismay and disgust over maternal sexist expressions licensed continuous harassment even assaults from her biological membership which term she even resents to this day.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 19 August 2017

Photo: A H/mong hill tribe woman in a village of Sin Chai, Sapa, Viet Nam. Women’s labour accounts for the two-thirds of subsistence agriculture in developing countries, yet they often have no rights over the land. Credit: UN Photo/Kibae Park

Indigenous Women Still Face Huge Rights Challenges

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Almost ten years have come and gone since the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007, but indigenous people continue to face discrimination, marginalisation and major challenges in enjoying their basic rights.

“The Declaration, which took more than twenty years to negotiate, stands today as a beacon of progress, a framework for reconciliation and a benchmark of rights,” according to a joint statement on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 issued by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 16 August 2017

Photo: Final session of SAMVAD meeting with Yogi Adinath (fourth from left) seated among Buddhist and Hindu priests. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Eastern Spirituality Could Help Sustainable Development

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 18th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

YANGON, Myanmar (IDN) – “The desire for peace exists everywhere, but the majority of people are not in a position to enjoy peace, stability and security they desire,” noted venerable Dr Ashin Nyanissara, spiritual head of the Sitagu International Buddhist University (SIBU), in opening a two-day gathering of spiritual leaders and scholars at the university here on August 5.

The event was the second Global Initiative for Conflict Avoidance and Environmental Consciousness (SAMVAD) conference, following the first held in New Delhi in September 2015.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 14 August 2017

Photo: Vice President U Myint Swe delivering an address on 2 November, 2016. Credit: globalnewlightofmyanmar.com | MNA

Myanmar Commission Slams UN for “Smear Campaigning”

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 17th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

YANGON, Myanmar (IDN) - A Myanmar government commission that investigated allegations made by an international human rights organisation and the media about the country’s security forces abusing the human rights of Muslims known as Rohingyas in Rakhine State has found these allegations to be “unproven” and slammed its critics, including the United Nations, for carrying out an international “smear campaign” against the country.

The 13-member Investigative Commission on Maungtaw in Rakhine State headed by Vice-President U Myint Swe released its report at a press conference on August 6.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 August 2017

Photo Credit: Minority Rights Group International | Mirza Arif Beg.

International Law is a Powerful Tool to Reduce Ethnic Disputes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - It’s not that many years ago that Warren Christopher, the U.S. Secretary of State, commenting on the outbreak of separatist ethnic strife in the 1990s in countries such as Somalia, Zaire, Rwanda, East Timor and ex-Yugoslavia, asked. “Where will it end? Will it end with 5,000 countries?”

It was a serious misjudgement. Separatist wars have fallen sharply. Minorities are not fighting for their own patch of territory at the rate they were. Since 1993 the number of wars of self-determination has been halved.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 August 2017

Photo: Najma Hassan cooking in her kitchen in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS

Clean Energy Coming to Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp

By Justus Wanzala

KAKUMA, Kenya (IDN) – As the sun shrinks into a red ball steadily disappearing beyond the horizon, residents of Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County, north-western Kenya, adjust to their evening routines. Late shoppers rush out to food stores, school children pick up their books and mothers start preparing the last meal of the day.

Darkness quickly envelopes the camp – which is administered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – and only a few businesses and homesteads are in the fortunate position of possessing diesel generators or solar and kerosene lanterns to provide lighting.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2017

Photo: Morocco's Villes Sans Bidonvilles Programme aims to upgrade shantytowns and douar and prioritises relocation of their inhabitants. Credit: Maroc Diplomatique

Morocco: Addressing Shantytowns in an Emerging Democracy

Viewpoint by Wajiha Ibrahim*

BOSTON (IDN) – What peaked in 2011 as a series of political protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa is today an opportunity to celebrate and evaluate how various regimes mould their path towards democracy. A noteworthy component of these transitions includes the shifting role of the informal sector.

While many countries have increased political participation, achieved macroeconomic stabilisation and restored growth, millions of people remain excluded from political and economic systems.