More than four years have passed since Myanmar security forces began “clearance operations” targeting ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State. Purportedly a response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an ethnic insurgent group, these operations were the culmination of mounting rights abuses and restrictions disproportionately directed at Rohingya communities. More than…
International military forces leave behind a country facing growing insecurity and levels of violence, a faltering economy and multiple humanitarian crises. Buried amongst the dozens of pressing challenges in Afghanistan is an issue that rarely receives the international spotlight: the prevalence of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Often referred to as ‘hidden and…
16 July 2021 Statement: Rising instability necessitates immediate suspension of deportations to Afghanistan Kabul, 16 July 2021: The Asia Displacement Solutions Platform (ADSP) supports the request made by the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) for the immediate suspension of returns to Afghanistan. With growing insecurity, conflict between state and non-state actors, mounting humanitarian…
On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, deposed Myanmar’s elected government. Alleging widespread fraud in the November 2020 elections, which the Tatmadaw’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party lost to the incumbent National League for Democracy (NLD), Tatmadaw leaders announced a one-year state of emergency. Anti-coup protests and an organised Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)…
The withdrawal of troops marks the end of one of America’s longest military engagements but the social, economic and security situation in the country remains dire. Whilst the international community is focusing upon what a post-US and NATO Afghanistan may look like, Afghans are grappling with the ongoing and acute humanitarian needs within the country.…
The principles of safety and dignity must not only guide the pursuit of durable solutions, but also the return of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Successful return involves much more than putting people on a plane. Jared Rowell, Afghanistan Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council, and Evan Jones at the Kabul-based Asia Displacement Solutions…
Please see the full statement in English here. Please see the full statement in Thai here. THAILAND: COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT, HUMANITARIAN ACTORS, ASEAN STATES AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS CRITICAL TO MEETING THE PROTECTION AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS OF REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR 8 April 2021 Renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups near…
This article, co-authored by Najeeba Wazefadost and Evan Jones appeared in The New Humanitarian. KABUL, Afghanistan and SYDNEY, Australia COVID-19 is one of the biggest global challenges in modern history, and all nations are grappling with its impacts. But some countries have responded by shutting their doors even further to the world’s most vulnerable. Many…
With a documented total of almost 1.2 million refugees originating from Myanmar – overwhelmingly Rohingya – this constitutes the world’s fourth largest refugee group by country of origin in 2018. Rohingya also form the world’s largest stateless population. The distinctive settlement policies for Rohingya across the region, varying from encampment to relatively unconstrained urban settlement,…
Don’t forget to ask Afghan refugees what they really need. 2020 has been a year of extraordinary change, unprecedented challenges and – in some respects – a year of reflection for us all. For the people of Afghanistan, it has once again been all of this and more. From the initiation of peace talks with…