Asia

Ahead of Thursday’s Security Council meeting behind closed doors on Yemen, the UN Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, said that a UN-led political process could still be part of a sustainable solution to the conflict. Participating by teleconference, Mr. Grundberg briefed the Council Members about his three-day visit to Taiz governorate, where he held meetings in Taiz city, Turbah and Mokha, and discussed the urgent necessity for an end to the violence. “These visits have given me a...

From rising sea temperatures, to deadly and devastating storms and floods, climate change is increasing threats in the southwest Pacific, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a report published on Wednesday. The State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2020 is part of a new series of regional climate reports by the UN weather agency, and covers much of Southeast Asia as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Real and potential risks The report...

Growing conflict, insecurity, COVID-19, and a failing economy, has rendered some three million Burmese in in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance across Myanmar, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said on Monday. “The humanitarian situation in Myanmar is deteriorating”, Martin Griffiths said in a statement, adding that “without an end to violence and a peaceful resolution of Myanmar’s crisis, this number will only rise”. Growing displacement Since a military takeover on 1...

A group of UN human rights experts appealed on Monday for Singapore to halt the execution of a Malaysian man who has intellectual disabilities. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, known as Naga, was originally scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday for drug offences after spending more than a decade on death row. “We note that a temporary stay has been granted today until a final appeal can be heard tomorrow. However, we are seriously concerned that, if the appeal is dismissed, he could still be...

Refugees in Indonesia, many of whom have fled Afghanistan’s mounting crises, have lagged far behind the rest of the population when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. The UN is helping to reverse this trend. One recent Thursday, Ali Madad Ibrahimi accompanied an elderly man from Afghanistan to a registration desk under a big red and white tent in Jakarta’s central district. He translated instructions into the Afghan Dari language, and the pair entered a spacious hall where blue-uniformed...

Preliminary evidence shows a widespread and systematic attack on civilians in Myanmar in the wake of the coup in February, amounting to crimes against humanity, the head of a fact-finding body established by the UN Human Rights Council said on Friday. Nicholas Koumjian of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar was updating journalists on its work to collect, preserve and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations committed in the country. The...