A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Cambodia to Peru
Category Archives: South and Central Asia
Myanmar military must stop violence against citizens, says Joko Widodo
Indonesian president’s remarks come after crisis talks with junta chief and south-east Asian leaders
Myanmar’s military must restore democracy and stop the violence against citizens, the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, said after crisis talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and south-east Asian leaders on Saturday.
The strongly worded comments followed a meeting in Jakarta of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which was the senior Myanmar general’s first foreign trip since security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February.
Continue reading...Everest Covid cases shine harsh light on Nepalese decision to open mountain
Norwegian climber airlifted from mountain while Sherpa reported to have also tested positive
The first cases of Covid-19 have been identified at Everest base camp, renewing the controversy over the decision by Nepal to open the world’s highest mountain to climbers.
With access from the Chinese side of Everest closed to outside climbers, and some expedition operators on the Nepalese side increasing prices, the Nepalese decision in the midst of a global pandemic has come under scrutiny.
Continue reading...Delhi hospitals issue SOS alerts over oxygen supplies as India’s Covid crisis mounts
Staff posted emergency messages on social media as several hospitals in the capital exhausted oxygen supplies on Thursday night
Hospitals in Delhi issued SOS alerts on Friday morning, warning they had just a few hours supply of oxygen left, as another unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases overwhelmed health systems in major Indian cities.
Hospital staff posted emergency messages on social media throughout Thursday and Friday, saying they were unable to cope with demand and pleading for assistance from government.
Continue reading...Rape victims in south Asia still face vaginal tests, report finds
Unscientific ‘morality’ examination linked to low conviction rates and violates women’s rights, says Equality Now
Physical vaginal tests are still used to determine whether women and girls have been raped in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, according to a new report.
The practice remains widespread in all three countries and some courts refer to the test in judgments, despite it having no scientific basis and being banned in India.
Continue reading...UK south-Asian diaspora despairs as India joins Covid red list
With travel from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh banned, some UK families are stuck abroad, while others cannot visit frail relatives
For the past 17 months, Saurav Dutt has had to watch from afar as relatives were lost to Covid, ancestral homes were damaged by a typhoon, and the mental toll of isolation, grief and illness led elders to question their very existence.
He had flights booked for May, but with cases soaring and India on the UK’s travel red list from 23 April, that is no longer an option. “It’s a very worrying time,” Dutt said. “You would think there are a million ways to help from over here, but we’re handcuffed. To deal with these things we need to be there.”
Continue reading...Revealed: big shortfall in Covax Covid vaccine-sharing scheme
Only a fifth of Oxford/AstraZeneca doses expected by May delivered as export bans, hoarding and supply shortages bite
The global vaccine-sharing initiative Covax has so far delivered about one in five of the Oxford/AstraZeneca doses it estimated would arrive in countries by May, according to a Guardian analysis, starkly illustrating the cost of export bans, hoarding and supply shortages for a scheme that represents a key lifeline for many in the developing world.
The organisations that run Covax had predicted countries would receive fewer vaccines than expected after the Indian government restricted exports from its largest manufacturer in response to a catastrophic second wave there, but the figures reveal the shortfall to be severe, leaving many governments scrambling to secure doses elsewhere.
Continue reading...India reels from second Covid wave as families beg for supplies on social media
Rapid glut of cases stretches supplies of beds in intensive care units, ventilators and oxygen
Hundred of Indians, including Delhi government administrators, have begged for help finding oxygen and other crucial medical supplies on social media as India reels from a devastating second wave of coronavirus, leading to caseloads growing by nearly 300,000 every day.
Faulty oxygen supplies at a western Indian hospital have killed more than 20 Covid-19 patients, adding to the country’s highest-ever daily death toll from the virus.
Continue reading...India’s shocking surge in Covid cases follows baffling decline
Analysis: Rapid spread of cases across country comes after long spell in which virus seemed almost to vanish
More than a million new infections in four days, rampant oxygen shortages and the Indian capital, Delhi, awash with sirens: this is what happens when wildly infectious new variants hit a population that was no longer socially distancing, or never could.
Related: ‘The system has collapsed’: India’s descent into Covid hell
Continue reading...Killing of female polio vaccinators puts Afghan eradication campaign at risk
Rise in cases feared as murders halt campaigns and leave many women too afraid to work
Gul Meena Hotak was on her regular rounds, going door-to-door giving polio vaccinations in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, when she heard gunshots.
The 22-year-old’s immediate concern was for the safety of her friend Negina and other colleagues nearby. “Negina and my supervisor were in a neighbourhood close by when a gunman approached and shot at them. My supervisor escaped with gunshot injuries, but Negina was killed on the spot,” Hotak said.
Continue reading...Why is India seeing such a huge surge in Covid-19 cases?
A ‘double mutant’ strain, lack of medical supplies and the relaxation of lockdowns have combined to foment disaster
India has seen a terrifying increase in coronavirus cases in the past few weeks. Tuesday saw another new record when the country racked up 295,041 new cases, up from around 273,000 from the previous day, with no sign that the surge is abating.
The capital Delhi was placed in lockdown for a week from Monday, and Maharashtra state, the centre of the surge and home to the financial capital, Mumbai, further tightened restrictions on shops and home deliveries from Tuesday.
Continue reading...Delhi warns hospitals running out of oxygen amid India’s devastating Covid wave
City government calls for help on social media, saying major hospitals only have enough oxygen to last eight to 24 hours
Indian authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and doctors said.
India, the world’s second most populous country, is reporting the world’s highest number of new daily cases and is approaching a peak of about 297,000 cases in one day that the US hit in January.
Continue reading...Indian expansion of Covid vaccine drive may further strain supplies
All adults to be eligible from 1 May, making jab available to at least 400 million more people
India has announced it will soon open its vaccination programme to every adult in response to soaring Covid-19 infections – a measure that could further strain supplies in parts of the world reliant on Indian-made vaccines for their own campaigns.
From 1 May, Indian states will be free to administer doses to anyone aged older than 18, the central government announced on Monday as part of a package of policies to tackle a second wave that has overwhelmed hospitals and led to oxygen shortages across the country.
Continue reading...Myanmar military junta arrests prominent trade union leader
Daw Myo Aye, labour organiser and a leader of civil disobedience protests, dragged from office by army
One of Myanmar’s leading trade union leaders has been arrested as part of escalating attacks on pro-democracy figures by the military junta.
Daw Myo Aye, director of Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM), one of Myanmar’s largest independent unions, is a central figure in the movement for workers’ rights.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson cancels India trip due to Covid situation
Downing Street says next week’s visit won’t go ahead ‘in light of the current coronavirus situation’
Boris Johnson’s planned visit to India next week has been cancelled because of the country’s escalating coronavirus crisis, a joint statement by the UK and India has announced.
“In the light of the current coronavirus situation, prime minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week,” said the statement, released by Downing Street.
Continue reading...The US is pulling out of Afghanistan. But it will never leave those of us who served there
Historians will judge America’s longest war. Now, the sounds of helicopters over my home take me back to Losano Ridge, Gardez, the men I fought for and those who did not return
I am one of more than 800,000 American military veterans who have served in Afghanistan since 2001. Tens of thousands more served in other capacities, from intelligence and diplomacy to aid and development. It’s fair to ask whether the end of the war affects how one views his or her own small role in the effort. If we didn’t “win”, whatever winning means in a war like this, did we matter? Were the sacrifices in vain?
Related: Damned either way, Biden opts out of Afghanistan as US tires of ‘forever wars’
Continue reading...Five people killed as police fire at protesting workers in Bangladesh
Employees were demanding unpaid wages and a pay rise at a Chinese-backed power plant, officials and police said
At least five people were killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh after police opened fire on a crowd of workers protesting to demand unpaid wages and a pay rise at a Chinese-backed power plant, officials and police said.
Police opened fire after about 2,000 of the protesters began hurling bricks and stones at officers at the construction site of the coal-fired plant in the south-eastern city of Chittagong, local police official Azizul Islam told Reuters.
Continue reading...Bisket Jatra celebrations in Nepal – in pictures
Thousands of Nepalese gathered to celebrate the Bisket Jatra festival in the town of Thimi, despite a government request for gatherings not to exceed 25 people. As part of the celebrations, coloured powder is spread to welcome the arrival of spring. Bisket Jatra began on Saturday and lasts for nine days
Continue reading...French citizens advised to leave Pakistan as protests worsen
Pakistani government bans religious leader as row over satirical cartoons simmers
French nationals and companies in Pakistan have been advised by their embassy to leave temporarily after violent anti-France protests brought large parts of the country to a standstill.
Anti-French sentiment has been simmering for months in Pakistan since Emmanuel Macron expressed support for a satirical magazine’s right to republish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.
Continue reading...Medics’ anger as Delhi orders most beds in private hospitals be reserved for Covid cases
Doctors say ‘absurd’ move, made as second wave surges, is unfair on non-Covid patients
Doctors have expressed fears for patients after the government ordered that the majority of the beds in 14 of Delhi’s biggest private hospitals be reserved exclusively for Covid patients, as the Indian capital’s healthcare system struggles to cope with a virulent second wave.
The announcement by the government came as the situation in Delhi grew increasingly dire, with over 17,000 new cases reported on Wednesday, breaking all records since the pandemic began, and 104 deaths. The capital has overtaken Mumbai, previously Covid ground zero in India, in terms of the number of new cases reported every day.
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