Browsing Tag refugees
Is ethnic Burma stable? The UN thinks so…
By Francis Wade at October 25, 2012 | 6:08 pm | 0 Comment
The fierce rioting in Arakan state and ongoing fighting in Burma’s north suggest the country’s “ethnic problem” – namely, the apathy of the military (and evidently some Burmese) towards those not from the Burman majority – is far from being solved. The unrest over the weekend in several townships in Arakan state, where Buddhist and Muslim communities continue more...
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Is ethnic Burma stable? The UN thinks so…
By Francis Wade at October 25, 2012 | 6:08 pm | 0 Comment
The fierce rioting in Arakan state and ongoing fighting in Burma’s north suggest the country’s “ethnic problem” – namely, the apathy of the military (and evidently some Burmese) towards those not from the Burman majority – is far from being solved. The unrest over the weekend in several townships in Arakan state, where Buddhist and Muslim communities continue more...
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Refugees in limbo after years of Pakistan fighting
By AP News at October 16, 2012 | 3:19 pm | 0 Comment
JALOZAI CAMP, Pakistan (AP) — This sprawling complex of tents housing tens of thousands of Pakistanis is home for Miza Khan and his family. The tents provide little relief from the scorching summers and the frigid winters. It’s been that way for three years now. A Pakistani woman, right, who was displaced from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting listens to more...
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Thailand follows China in controversial refugee repatriation
By Francis Wade at August 28, 2012 | 8:29 pm | 0 Comment
Thailand is preparing to return some 500 refugees back to an area of Burma’s eastern Shan state where fighting continues. It follows global criticism of China’s recent move to repatriate up to 5,000 refugees to the volatile border region of Kachin state in Burma’s north, which has hosted more than a year of conflict. Thailand is not a signatory to the UN more...
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Decision to send Sri Lankan refugees to Nauru undermines effort to find solution
By Asia Sentinel at August 21, 2012 | 5:18 pm | 0 Comment
Nauru - Hundreds of Sri Lankans took to boats to reach Australia in the first half of 2012. The Australian government’s recent decision to transfer asylum seekers to Pacific islands to process their applications will undermine efforts to find a solution to the region’s asylum seekers and refugees, human right groups and activists warn. “Policies like more...
UN raises concern over Australia’s new asylum law
By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon at August 18, 2012 | 9:15 am | 0 Comment
Following Australian Parliament’s passage of a bill to process asylum seekers offshore, the United Nation High Commission on Refugees held a press briefing in Geneva saying the new policy raises complex legal, protection, policy and operational issues. UNHCR Spokesperson Adrian Edwards welcomes Australia Expert Panel’s Report as it encourages regional cooperation more...
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UN raises concern over Australia’s new asylum law
By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon at August 18, 2012 | 9:15 am | 0 Comment
Following Australian Parliament’s passage of a bill to process asylum seekers offshore, the United Nation High Commission on Refugees held a press briefing in Geneva saying the new policy raises complex legal, protection, policy and operational issues. UNHCR Spokesperson Adrian Edwards welcomes Australia Expert Panel’s Report as it encourages regional cooperation more...
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Australian experts to boat people: Go back to Asia!
By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon at August 13, 2012 | 7:04 pm | 0 Comment
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard beamed when she met the Press in Canberra looking as if she is out of the asylum conundrum. The Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, which her Government appointed prior to Parliamentary break in June 28, released a Report early today outlining 22 Recommendations on how to deal with people arriving by boat non-stop. The more...
Bangladesh–Myanmar relations: smooth sailing
By Pranab Panday at July 28, 2012 | 7:00 am | 0 Comment
Author: Pranab Kumar Panday, Cornell University and Rajshahi University Though Myanmar is a close neighbour, the government of Bangladesh has refrained from establishing close bilateral relations due to the long-term military rule in Myanmar. Of course, Bangladesh is not alone in shunning the junta. Most democratic countries around the world have tried to more...
Australia: No deal on asylum seekers
By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon at June 29, 2012 | 10:05 pm | 0 Comment
PM Julia Gillard's benchmark policy scrapped by High Court and Senate (Photo: Kym Smith) The Senate upheld a High Court’s decision to scrap an extra-territorial solution to people smuggled by boat into Australia in a dramatic vote, 39 against 29. This is a nail in the coffin of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s benchmark policy to solve human smuggling. It more...
Australia: Lower House passes bill on offshore asylum processing
By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon at June 27, 2012 | 8:08 pm | 0 Comment
Human smuggling is unstoppable. Two incidents of capsized vessels near the Christmas Island are reported this week. Rescue operations have been dispatched to look for survivors. It has became all-too-ordinary when people are crammed into a boat and sail on treacherous waters with high hopes of reaching Australia— then the boat sinks before it reaches the northern more...
Through a lens: The Rohingya, and the scourge of statelessness
By Francis Wade at June 21, 2012 | 5:51 pm | 0 Comment
The UN reports that sectarian violence over the past fortnight in western Burma has displaced 90,000 people. The figure is higher than the total for Kachin state in Burma’s north, which for more than a year has played host to armed conflict. Bangladesh continues to block entry to those fleeing the unrest, the vast majority of whom are from the ethnic Rohingya group – more...
