GENEVA (AA) – UN human rights experts on Monday praised an announcement by Malaysia’s government that it will abolish death penalty. The experts in a statement encouraged Malaysia’s parliament to take the legislative steps and pass a law to this effect. The policy shift will replace the mandatory death penalty with alternative sentences concer...
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan is facing new inflows of asylum seekers from neighboring Afghanistan, following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, according to the UN refugee agency. Speaking on the eve of the World Refugees Day, observed June 20 every year, Qaiser Khan Afridi, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refuge...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have begun an arduous journey to cross the Indian-Bangladeshi border for safe shelter on the southeast coast of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh where more than 1 million Rohingya have been provided shelter. There are about 40,000 Rohingya in India with 20,000 registered with the UN refugee...
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – The UN refugee agency has called for urgent support for about 16,000 people — mostly women and children — in Burkina Faso, who have been driven out of their homes by a recent insurgent attack that left dozens dead in the country’s Sahel region. Since June 12, almost 16,000 Burkinabe have […]
PARIS (AA) – The Council of Europe has condemned Russian occupying forces in Crimea over human rights violations against ethnic minorities including Ukrainians and Muslim Crimean Tatars. Based on a recent report by Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, the council’s Committee of Ministers noted in a meeting the human rights si...
GENEVA (AA) – The UN human rights chief said at a special council session that Ukraine’s Mariupol city, after having been besieged by Russian forces, is in a “dire” situation, and residents face the risks of infections and diseases including cholera. Michelle Bachelet spoke after a UN Human Rights Council Resolution ado...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Over 135,000 Rohingya and Kaman Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have been arbitrarily and indefinitely detained in the last decade, an international rights watchdog has said. “Myanmar authorities’ crimes against humanity of apartheid, persecution, and imprisonment have deprived Rohingya of their liberty and threaten...
PARIS (AA) – The French border police shot and injured two migrants close to the Italian frontier, Franceinfo news reported on Wednesday. According to the report, a car carrying migrants reportedly refused to halt for inspection during a joint Franco-Italian police operation at Sospel town in the Alpes-Maritime department around 3 a.m. on Wedn...
GENEVA (AA): UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has said that she will not stand for a second four-year term for the position she has held since 2018. “I will not be seeking a second term after my mandate expires on the 31st of August this year,” Bachelet told journalists outside the chamber where the Human […]
LONDON (AA): Britain’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a High Court decision that asylum seekers can be flown to Rwanda in a controversial scheme. The decision means the first deportation flight to Rwanda can go ahead right away. In April, the UK announced plans to send some of the people who seek […]