In The News

Huffington Post: As Rohingyas Flee Myanmar, India Needs To Drop Religious Criteria in Its Refugee Law

Nafees Ahmad September 26, 2017
Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees are fleeing violence in Myanmar and heading to Bangladesh, with 30,000 people trapped near the border, reports Nafees Ahmad for the Huffington Post. Meanwhile, India’s prime minister has announced plans to deport 40,000 Rohingya refugees, and India’s Supreme Court is reviewing a plea by two asylum seekers to reverse the decision. Conservatives who support...

The Guardian: Facebook Bans Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s Posts

Julia Carrie Wong, Michael Safi and Shaikh Azizur Rahman September 20, 2017
Rohingya Muslims, long marginalized, have few resources to resist the Myanmar military and flee the nation by the thousands. Social media can be a lifeline during such chaos. Yet in the midst of humanitarian crisis, Facebook is retaining the Myanmar military’s page while putting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on its “most dangerous” list, prompting moderators to delete posts that praise the...

Reuters: UN Brands Myanmar Violence a “Textbook” Example of Ethnic Cleansing

Stephanie Nebehay and Simon Lewis September 11, 2017
At least 300, 000 Rohingya people have fled to Bangladesh away from Myanmar and the military’s brutal crackdown since August 25, and “The United Nations’ top human rights official on Monday slammed Myanmar for conducting a ‘cruel military operation’ against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, branding it ‘a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,’” reports Reuters. Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein “said...

The New York Times: More Than 1,000 Died in South Asia Floods This Summer

Jeffrey Gettleman September 1, 2017
South Asia is enduring severe flooding with the death toll this summer at more than 1000 and climbing. Monsoon rains pummeled the region since June and are expected to continue through the end of September. Jeffrey Gettleman for the New York Times describes relentless rain. “And while flooding in the Houston area has grabbed more attention, aid officials say a catastrophe is unfolding in South...

Al Jazeera: Nearly 20,000 Rohingya Flee to Bangladesh From Myanmar

August 31, 2017
More than 18,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent days to escape fighting in western Myanmar. The two nations share a border of 270 kilometers; Bangladesh is 90 percent Muslim, and Myanmar is about 90 percent Buddhist and 4 percent Muslim. Bangladesh, already hosting 400,000 Rohingya refugees, tries to block the new waves of refugees. With the Rohingya Muslims denied citizenship rights...

The Times of India: Trump on Afghanistan

Nayan Chanda August 29, 2017
US President Donald Trump committed the United States to indefinite continuation of the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, emphasizing “winning” and killing terrorists rather than nation building. Trump offered few specifics, but troop numbers of troops discussed are much smaller than the 100,000 deployed in 2010. In line with his transactional approach to foreign policy, Trump outlined expectations...

South China Morning Post: China-India Row as Catalyst?

Sarah Zheng August 28, 2017
India and China agreed to disengaging troops in the Doklam area of Bhutan after a two-month standoff. The announcement came just before the BRICS summit, starting September 3, for representatives of China and India as well as Brazil, Russia and South Africa. BRICS could be the ideal setting to develop an ongoing process for handling such disputes, suggest economists and researchers interviewed by...