DPR Korea: Forced labour is institutionalized and dangerous, warns UN rights office
In a report based on 183 interviews with victims and witnesses of forced labour who managed to escape DPRK and now live abroad, OHCHR cited one person’s testimony that if a daily work quota was not met, workers would be…
Philippines: Humane approach to incarceration relieves chronic prison overcrowding
At the Manila City Jail in the Philippines capital, prisoners lie in neat rows as they demonstrate how they sleep every night. In male dormitory number 4 most do not have a mattress or even a bed; indeed it’s not…
First Person: Filipino elderly ex-prisoner’s joy of ‘sleeping and eating’
According to Government figures, the number of inmates are four times over the planned capacity, making the Philippines one of the most overcrowded penal systems in the world alongside countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Uganda….
UN rights council condemns Myanmar abuses, urges immediate action
In a resolution adopted without a vote, the Council strongly condemned all violations and abuses of human rights in Myanmar, particularly following the military coup in February 2021. It called upon Myanmar “to end immediately all violence and violations…
Southeast Asia: Torture rooms and karaoke bars in gang-run ‘scam farms’
There are estimated to be some 400 of these criminal enterprises in the Philippines alone. They are almost always operated clandestinely and illegally alongside licensed and legal online gaming operations. The proliferation of online scam farms targeting victims across the…
Crushing the scam farms: Southeast Asia’s ‘criminal service providers’
As we reported earlier in the week, there has been a proliferation of illicit operations, known as scam farms, following the COVID-19 pandemic, across Southeast Asia – including in the Philippines – where they have often operated alongside legal gambling…
Guterres commends Turkmenistan’s ‘policy of neutrality’ amid troubled times
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation to Turkmenistan for hosting the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in Ashgabat, and commended Turkmenistan’s generosity in granting citizenship to stateless people. He also thanked the President for providing the UN…
UN pushes for inclusive future in Afghanistan at Doha talks
Speaking in the Qatari capital, Doha, after the Third Meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan, UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo expressed deep concern over the situation of women and girls in the country. “Running through all the discussions was the…
Top UN official calls for strict compliance with sanctions on DPR Korea
Ms. Nakamitsu noted that in recent months there had been allegations of transfers of ballistic missiles and ammunition from the DPRK (more commonly known as North Korea) to Russia, in violation of Council resolutions, allegedly for use in Moscow’s continuing…
From banana bread to pineapple pizzas: Women in the Philippines bake a better future
The Balaigay Women Producer Cooperative is made up of local women from the fishing village of Lumbayanague as well as women who were displaced from Marawi, a nearby city, following an attack by Islamist militants in 2017. Ahead of Micro,…