Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- UN independent human rights experts on Friday expressed profound concern over multiple reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and ill-treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan.
- On the third anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, UN Secretary-General António Guterres voiced grave concern over the deteriorating situation in the country.
- Three years after the military deposed the elected Government in Myanmar, the ever-deteriorating human rights crisis in the country is now in freefall, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, appealing for greater attention from the international community.
- UN independent human rights experts on Wednesday urged the Government of Bangladesh to undertake key reforms to reverse “repressive trends” and restore dialogue.
- A group of independent UN human rights experts on Monday called on the authorities in Hong Kong to drop all charges against pro-democracy media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai and release him immediately.
- Hundreds of Afghan women were forced to quit their jobs or have been arrested and denied access to essential services in the last quarter of 2023, a new update from the UN mission there revealed on Monday, as Taliban officials continue undermining their basic human rights.
- Sri Lankan migrants who paid their life savings to people traffickers for perilous and unsuccessful sea crossings in an attempt to find a better life overseas have returned home thanks to the support of the UN migration agency, IOM.
- Economic recovery in Afghanistan hinges on international support for boosting productivity and reinstating women’s rights, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a new report released on Thursday.
- The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday strongly condemned an attack in Iran which has reportedly killed more than 80 people taking part in a commemoration for a former top military general in the eastern city of Kerman.
- The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has appealed for action in the wake of a mob attack against refugees in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
- Lack of progress in resolving human rights issues is a key factor behind the current impasse between Afghanistan and the international community, the UN Special Representative for the country said on Wednesday in a briefing to the Security Council in New York.
- Repeated long-range ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) represent a serious threat to international air and sea transportation, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday.
- Despite appeals to all those involved in the stalled deal to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, “diplomatic efforts remain at a standstill”, the UN’s political affairs chief told the Security Council on Monday.