News

News Round-Up 22/04/16

22 April 2016

News from HART

The 1st prize entry of this year’s HART Prize for Human Rights Senior Essay category has now been published!

Burma

Suu Kyi received her fifth listing among the Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ this week.
Meanwhile, CBS News has reported claims of high level corruption as a media group allegedly presented an important official with “an envelope with more than $4,000 as a gift”.
Clashes in Arakan State threaten peaces prospects as, “the Burma Army engaged in two ambush attacks against the Arakan Army (AA) during the country’s New Year water festival on April 16 in northern Arakan State” reports the Irrawaddy.
On Wednesday dozens of Rohingyas, who ventured out by boat to buy essential supplies, such as food and medicine, “are feared to have drowned”. The Irrawaddy has reported that this tragedy “has left 18 dead and 19 survivors”. According to The Telegraph, “the tragedy has focused attention on the plight of the Muslim minority, who still face severe persecution under the new government headed by Aung San Suu Kyi“.

India

Volunteers rescue people from a residential area in Chennai, India, during the December 2015 floods. Swiss Re estimates the floods caused economic losses of $2.2bn.

Photograph: AP

High temperatures and a crippling shortage of rainfall in India is forcing schools to close and communities to ration drinking water. A risk analysis company, Verisk Maplecroft, has reported that 1.2 billion people in India are acutely exposed to natural disasters, including 330 million people who are currently affected by drought.
15 dalit families in Beemana Beedu in Karnataka’s Mysuru district have been forced to collect water from a school toilet.

Nagorno Karabakh

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has encouraged both parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to pursue a resolution through diplomatic dialogue, “as the conflict has no military solution”, according to Sputnik International.

Reuters has reported claims that, “a soldier from the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh was killed by gunfire from Azerbaijan on Thursday morning”.

Nigeria

It has been reported that Boko Haram are strapping bombs to birds as part of its strategy in the insurgency.
According to a report by Refugees International, female IDPs in Maiduguri are resorting to “survival sex” in order to gain access to food.
An article by CBC news shows that Boko Haram has forced nearly 1 million children out of school.

South Sudan

The South Sudan news this week has been largely populated with speculation regarding the delayed arrival of Riek Machar to Juba. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the body overseeing the implementation of South Sudan peace agreement, has set Saturday as the deadline for his arrival.
The UNMISS Coordinator in Wau has called on the government to put an end to the atrocities committed against civilians in Wau. Recent fighting has displaced 96,000 people to Wau, where HART has partners.
South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, said there is a possibility he will run for another term in office after 2018. He said the opposition faction leadership was returning to Juba with a new strategy to take over power from his and his supporters. This week, analysts have expressed ongoing concerns over the fragility of the peace agreement.

Sudan

Abubakar Hassan Mohamed Taha, an 18 year old engineering student at the University of Kordofan in Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, was shot in the head by intelligence agents during a peaceful protest. Another 27 students were injured, five of them seriously.
The armed rebels in Blue Nile claim to have defeated Sudanese military forces in an attack in Alrom in Blue Nile on Monday, which ‘killed dozens of fighters’. In the Nuba Mountains, a Sudanese helicopter was downed on Sunday. Read a humanitarian update covering development in the Two Areas in March here.
On Wednesday, the Sudanese foreign ministry held a second meeting for the European diplomats in Khartoum. Analysts have highlighted concerns over the international community’s seemingly strengthen relationship with Sudan, when human rights abuses and atrocities continue unabated.