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Asia Pacific

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,…

Rights expert urges banks to stop financing Myanmar junta weapons trade

Since the February 2021 coup, over 5,000 civilians have been killed, at least three million displaced. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain incarcerated. Military airstrikes against civilian targets have increased five-fold in the last six months, even as the junta…

Feeling ‘90 per cent stronger’: Families in the Philippines help prevent drug abuse

Rowena Cruz participated in the Strong Families programme run by the local government through the Anti-drug Abuse Council of Pasig (ADCOP) and backed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Ahead of World Drug Day marked annually on…

Effort to restore Iran nuclear deal ‘remains elusive’, Security Council hears

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, was updating ambassadors in the Security Council. The United States has not returned to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally called. Washington has not lifted or…