Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- 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.
- Myanmar is now the world’s largest opium producer, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on Tuesday, as the economic and political crisis following the 2021 coup and widening conflict between the military and armed groups continues to drive farmers towards illicit opium poppy production.
- Over half a million people have been displaced in Myanmar amid a surge in fighting between the military and armed groups that started in late October and has spread to over two-thirds of the country, the UN humanitarian affairs office reported on Friday.
- The recent launch of a reconnaissance satellite by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), presents a ‘serious risk’ to international civil aviation and shipping, the Security Council heard on Monday.
- The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) and humanitarian partners are providing critical aid at border crossing points between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the face of a surge in forced returns of Afghan nationals.