Karachi (TIP) : Seventeen children died of measles infection in Sindh in the last two months, ARY News reported, citing a statement by the health department. Ten children died in Khairpur district of Sindh by measles in two months. Sindh Health Department has said that over 1100 cases of the infectious disease reported in Sindh from January 1st to March 8 this year. In last two months, 550 children reported infected by measles in Karachi, according to the health department.
Khairpur district has maximum death toll by measles, where 10 children died of the infectious disease, ARY News reported. Meanwhile, five children died of the infection in Karachi’s East district, while one each in Sukkur and Jacobabad districts. The main reason of children’s deaths by the infection is avoding vaccination and lack of awareness about the infection, which has been otherwise vaccine-preventable disease, doctors said. Four to six measles patients being reported at government hospitals,” hospital officials earlier told ARY News.
Hospital officials said that children under five years contract measles and some children with pneumonia caused by measles have been admitted at hospitals.
A measles outbreak in Khairpur district claimed lives of seven children within a span of two days, ARY News reported.
It is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by measles virus.
The disease symptoms usually develop 10-12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7-10 days. The symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms. A red, flat rash which starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.
Common complications include diarrhea, middle ear infection, and pneumonia.
On December 31, 2024, Pakistan health department data confirmed the deaths of 132 children in the year with more than 13,000 suspected and 6,670 confirmed cases. Surprisingly, it shows only three deaths in Karachi, Dawn reported. (ANI)
Tag: South Asia
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Pak: 17 children die of measles in Sindh from Feb-March
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Sri Lanka govt faces popularity test with local polls
COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lanka’s long-delayed local council polls will be held in May, the election commission announced Thursday, setting up the first popularity test of the island nation’s new leftist government. The vote was due in 2022 but was postponed by the last administration, which argued that an unprecedented economic crisis that year had left it unable to afford the contest.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled in August that then-president Ranil Wickremesinghe had acted unlawfully by delaying the polls indefinitely and ordered them held at the earliest opportunity.
Elections for all but three of Sri Lanka’s 339 local government bodies will be held on May 6, the commission announced, with the remainder to be scheduled later. Sri Lanka faced its worst-ever economic crisis in 2022 when it declared its first sovereign default on $46 billion in external debt.
Months of consumer goods shortages sparked widespread civil unrest culminating in the ousting of then-leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
His successor Wickremesinghe secured a $2.9 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March 2023 after doubling income taxes, removing energy subsidies and increasing prices.
Wickremesinghe lost last year’s presidential polls, which saw the landslide victory of leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake thanks to simmering discontent over the crisis and its aftermath.
Dissanayake has continued with the austerity measures introduced by Wickremesinghe, while the IMF has said the country’s economy is stabilising and emerging from its worst meltdown. (AFP)
Pak confirms 2nd mpox case in 2025
Karachi (TIP) : Pakistan’s Sindh Health Department has confirmed a monkeypox (mpox) case in Karachi, marking the first instance of the disease in the city, ARY News reported on Saturday.
The patient, a 28-year-old male resident of Shah Latif Town, contracted the virus after his wife showed symptoms. The patient’s wife has a travel history abroad.
The man has been placed in an isolation ward to prevent the spread of harmful infections to others.
Earlier on January 25, Pakistan reported its first case of viral disease Monkeypox, also known as mpox, in 2025, ARY News reported. The patient, who returned from Dubai on January 24, was identified through screening at the Peshawar airport, according to Pakistan Ministry of Health spokesperson.
(ANI) -
Pakistan says it repatriated over 8 lakh Afghans residing illegally ahead of March 31 deadline
PESHAWAR (TIP): The process of repatriation of illegally residing Afghan nationals in Pakistan continued unabated as more than 800,000 people were repatriated by March 20, an official said.
With only 10 days remaining until the March 31 deadline for illegally residing individuals and Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave Pakistan, the government by March 20 repatriated 874,282 Afghans due to concerns over terrorism, an official said.
The official said the government assured no mistreatment would be met during the process.
Arrangements for food and healthcare facilities for those returning to Afghanistan have been completed, the official said.
The official said strict legal action would be taken after the deadline passes.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday called for the gradual repatriation of Afghan refugees from not just Pakistan but the rest of the world. (PTI) -
In a Pakistan desert town, Holi and Ramadan come together
Mithi, Pakistan (TIP): In a desert town in Pakistan, Hindus prepare meals for fasting Muslims, who in turn gather to welcome a Holi procession, a rare moment of religious solidarity in the Islamic nation.
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Muslim-majority Pakistan, but those tensions are not to be found in Mithi, an affluent city of rolling sand dunes and mud-brick homes in southern Sindh province.
“All the traditions and rituals here are celebrated together,” Raj Kumar, a 30-year-old Hindu businessman told AFP.
“You will see that on Holi, Hindu youth are joined by Muslim youth, celebrating together and applying colours on each other,” he added.
“Even at the end of the Muslim call for prayer, the imam says ‘peace to Hindus and Muslims’.”
This year, the Hindu festival of Holi and the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan fell together. Both events move each year according to the lunar calendar.
Holi, the festival of colour, has for centuries marked the arrival of spring and raucous crowds playfully throw coloured powder and water over each other.
On Thursday, hundreds of Hindus held a procession through the streets of Mithi, one of the few towns where they form the majority, to be warmly welcomed at the city square by their Muslim neighbours.
“We have learnt to live together since childhood. This has come to us through generations, and we are following it too,” said local Mohan Lal Mali, 53, after arranging a meal for Muslims to break their fast.
Cows, considered sacred in Hinduism, roam freely through the streets of Mithi, while women wear traditional embroidered sarees embellished with mirror work.
There is no beef shop in town, as its meat is prohibited in Hinduism, and Muslims only sacrifice goats during festivals.
Mithi, a city of around 60,000 people, is predominantly Hindu — in a country where 96 percent of its 240 million people are Muslim and two percent are Hindu.
Fozia Haseeb, a Christian woman, travelled from the port city of Karachi, around 320 kilometres (200 miles) away, to witness the blended occasions.
“People following three religions are here: Christians, Hindus and Muslims,” she said.
“We wanted to see for ourselves whether this was correct, and there is no doubt it is.” (AFP) -
World Food Programme says funding shortfall forces it to cut food aid to 1 million people in Myanmar
Yangon, Myanmar (TIP): The World Food Programme will be forced to cut off one million people in war-torn Myanmar from its vital food aid because of “critical funding shortfalls”, it said on Friday.
The United States provided the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) with $4.4 billion of its $9.7 billion budget in 2024 but Washington’s international aid funding has been slashed under President Donald Trump.
Myanmar has been gripped by civil war following a 2021 military coup, plunging it into what the United Nations describes as a “polycrisis” of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and instability.
It is controlled by a shifting patchwork of junta forces, ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy partisans that have fractured the economy, driven up poverty and complicated the supply of aid. The WFP says more than 15 million people in the country of 51 million are unable to meet their daily food needs, with more than two million of them “facing emergency levels of hunger”.
“More than one million people in Myanmar will be cut off from WFP’s lifesaving food assistance starting in April due to critical funding shortfalls,” it said in a statement.
“These cuts come just as increased conflict, displacement and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs,” it said.
The statement did not mention the United States by name or any other donor countries.
But it said that, without immediate new funding, “WFP will only be able to assist 35,000 of the most vulnerable people”, including children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the disabled.
The UN warned last year that Rakhine state in Myanmar’s west faces an “imminent threat of acute famine”.
The WFP said upcoming cuts would hit 100,000 internally displaced people in Rakhine who will “have no access to food” without its assistance. -
Train hostage survivors in Pakistan recount ‘panic’ amid blasts
MACH (TIP): Hostages freed from a train siege in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday said they walked for hours through mountainous terrain to reach safety, forced to leave behind relatives from whom they were separated.
Militants waging a war of independence against the Pakistani state set off explosions on the railway track in a remote area of Balochistan, forcing the train to a halt and taking more than 450 passengers hostage.
“I can’t find the words to describe how we managed to escape. It was terrifying,” Muhammad Bilal told AFP.
Bilal had been traveling with his mother on the Jafar Express train when it was caught in the explosive crossfire, leaving at least three dead, according to a railway official.
More than 100 hostages have been freed from the train, which remains held up by rebel forces.
“I heard an explosion followed by gunfire as militants boarded the train,” passenger Allahditta told AFP at the train station in Mach, where the waiting area has been transformed into a makeshift hospital to treat the wounded.
“People began hiding under the seats in panic. The militants separated the men from the women. They allowed me and my family to go because I told them I’m a heart patient,” the 49-year-old said.
“We walked for a long time through the mountains to reach the nearest station. I haven’t eaten since I began fasting this morning, but I still can’t bring myself to eat,” Allahditta added, in reference to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
One passenger described gunmen sorting through identity cards to confirm who was from outside of the province, similar to a spate of recent attacks carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army, which has claimed credit for the seige.
“They came and checked IDs and service cards and shot two soldiers in front of me and took the other four to, I don’t know where,” said one passenger who asked not to be named, after walking four hours to the nearest train station.
“They checked IDs and those who were Punjabis were taken away by the terrorists,” he added.
The BLA claim the region’s natural resources are being exploited by outsiders and has increased attacks targeting Pakistanis from other regions.
Late on Tuesday, survivors walked through rugged terrain to the nearest train station and travelled to Mach, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Iran border.
The first trains carrying survivors arrived late on Tuesday evening to be met by paramilitary forces and doctors.
“I am treating two (police) officers, one was shot five times, while the other was wounded in his knee,” said paramedic Qazim Farooq. (AFP) -
Myanmar junta chief says general election will be held by January 2026
BANGKOK (TIP): Myanmar’s junta chief said the country would hold an election in December or January, the first in the war-torn nation since the military staged a coup in 2021.
“We are planning to hold the election in December 2025 or… by January 2026,” General Min Aung Hlaing was quoted as saying in the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar published Saturday.
The vote would be “free and fair,” he said on Friday during a state visit to Belarus, adding that 53 political parties had “submitted their lists” to participate.
“We also invite observation teams from Belarus to come and observe” the slated election, he said during a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk. The Myanmar military seized power in 2021, making unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 polls won resoundingly by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). It has since unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent and as fighting ravages swathes of the country had repeatedly delayed plans for fresh polls that critics say will be neither free nor fair.
In 2022, the junta-stacked election commission announced that Suu Kyi’s NLD would be dissolved for failing to re-register under a tough new military-drafted electoral law.
Junta-appointed foreign minister Than Swe in December told delegates from five neighbouring countries at a meeting in Bangkok that “progress was being made” towards an election in 2025.
The junta in January extended an already-prolonged state of emergency by six months, eliminating the possibility of long-promised polls until the second half of the year at the earliest. (AFP) -
Sri Lanka’s police chief evades arrest as own force hunts him over shooting case
COLOMBO (TIP): Deshabandu Tennakoon, theoretically still the island nation’s police chief, is being treated as a fugitive and his team members are on a trail to arrest him, police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga said here on March 6.
A warrant has been issued for arresting Tennakoon, under suspension since July 2024 and is on the run, and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been tasked with locating him. The Magistrate’s court in the southern town of Matara had last week ordered Tennakoon be arrested over a shooting incident in the southern resort town of Weligama, about 150 kilometres southeast of Colombo, on December 30, 2023. Tennakoon, as the inspector general, had sent police officers from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) to the resort hotel in Weligama for a raid in connection with illegal drugs. However, the Weligama police, unaware of the undercover operation, opened fire at the CCD vehicle killing an officer.
Manathunga told reporters that the court ruled that the undercover operation was illegal and eight police officers, including Tennakoon, must be arrested.
Tennakoon, who was suspended by the highest court, is absconding and raids have been carried out since last week at locations where Tennakoon was likely to be. The court has issued a travel ban on him. “We seek public support to arrest him. We treat him as a suspect,” Manathunga said. Tennakoon was appointed as the police chief in November 2023 despite him being found guilty of torturing a person in custody by the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights petition. Tennakoon was suspended in July 2024 from functioning by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a hearing on the legality of his appointment. (PTI) -
Pakistan orders Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave country by March 31
ISLAMABAD (TIP): The Pakistan government has set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACCs) holders to leave Pakistan voluntarily as part of a plan to repatriate all illegal foreigners, according to an official document. The document, purportedly leaked to the media on March 7 night, indicated that the ACC holders staying in Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be moved out and sent back to Afghanistan as part of a multiphase relocation plan for Afghan migrants, including those awaiting resettlement in third countries.
The decision comes amidst deteriorating ties between Islamabad and Kabul over the issue of terrorism and it may impact over 800,000 documented Afghan refugees holding Afghan Citizen Cards and are included in the category of documented refugees, contrary to hundreds and thousands of undocumented ones. It stated that the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Programme (IFRP) has been implemented since November 1, 2023 and in “continuation to the government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, the national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders.”
“All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before March 31, 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence with effect from April 1, 2025,” it warned. It highlighted that sufficient time has already been granted for their dignified return and emphasised that no one will be maltreated during the repatriation process and arrangements for food and healthcare for returning foreigners have also been put in place. It concluded by saying that Pakistan has been a gracious host and continues to fulfil its commitments and obligations as a responsible state. (PTI) -
Bangladesh army chief warns country ‘at risk’ from infighting
DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh’s army chief on February 25 blamed infighting for deteriorating law and order, warning that the gains of the student-led revolution that toppled the government last August were at risk.
The South Asian nation has been struggling to stem a surge in violent crime, with the security forces arresting thousands this month targeting gangs allegedly connected to the party of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. “If you can’t move beyond your differences and continue meddling and fighting among yourselves, the independence and integrity of the country will be at risk — I warn you,” said General Waker-Uz-Zaman, without singling out any group by name. “Since stakeholders are busy accusing each other, miscreants find the situation favourable. They believe they can get away with anything,” he said at an army memorial event. “I just want to bring the country and the nation to a stable point and then take a vacation”, he said. “After that, we will return to our barracks.” (AFP) -
29 dead due to hail, rain in Afghanistan: officials
Herat, Afghanistan (TIP): Twenty-nine people died in two provinces in Afghanistan due to hail and heavy rain, officials said February 25. “Twenty-one people were killed and six others were injured” because of hail in western Farah province, said Mohammad Israel Sayar, head of the province’s Disaster Management Department. The victims are members of two families who had gone for a picnic, he said. In southern Kandahar, the local disaster management department said in a statement that eight people — including women and children — were killed in several locations due to heavy rain. “Today, four women who were busy washing clothes were swept away by floodwaters… and only one woman survived,” the statement said.
It added that a child drowned in Kandahar while a roof collapsed on a family killing one woman and three children. Among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is spurring extreme weather.
It is ranked as the country sixth most vulnerable to climate change.
Drought, floods, land degradation and declining agricultural productivity are key threats, the UN development agency’s representative in Afghanistan, Stephen Rodriques, said in 2023.
Flash floods in May last year killed hundreds and swamped swaths of agricultural land in Afghanistan, where 80 percent of people depend on farming to survive. (AFP) -
Bangladesh students who led anti-Hasina protests launch new party ‘Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad’
DHAKA (TIP): Bangladeshi students who played a key role in overthrowing the government last year have announced a new political party, the latest grouping in heated political jostling ahead of expected elections. The new Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad, or Democratic Student Council, includes key organisers from the powerful Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group that spearheaded the uprising that overthrew iron-fisted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August.
Politics in Bangladesh are notoriously fractious and other students then accused them of undermining the revolution.
Disputes over representation led to physical clashes among members of the new group when its name was unveiled on February 26.
Other SAD leaders – including members who were included in the interim government that took over after Hasina fled to India — are expected to launch another separate party on Friday.
The Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad also includes students formerly allied to the youth wing of Hasina’s Awami League.
“While accommodating students from the Awami League, we ensured that none of them were involved in mass murder or torture during the revolution,” Zahid Ahsan, a leader of the new group, told AFP.
“We are dedicated to protecting student rights,” he said, adding they wanted to “uphold the spirit” of the mass movement that rallied to end Hasina’s autocratic grip.
Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka to face charges that include accusations of crimes against humanity.
More than 150 people were injured in clashes between rival student groups this month.
Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer who heads the caretaker government, has said that general elections will take place in late 2025 or early 2026.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Hasina’s long-time opponent, is widely expected to dominate the elections. (AFP) -
Pakistan security forces kill 10 terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
PESHAWAR (TIP): Pakistani security forces killed 10 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said on February 24.
According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation took place in the Bagh area between Sunday night and early Monday, based on intelligence about terrorist activity. Security forces engaged the militants, killing 10. A sanitisation operation is underway to clear any remaining threats in the area.
This operation follows two separate raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, where security forces killed seven terrorists a day earlier.
Last week, 30 terrorists were killed in an operation in South Waziristan district.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, since the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in 2022.
A recent security report by the Islamabad-based think-tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies highlighted a rise in terror attacks, with 2024 levels comparable to those of 2014.
While terrorists no longer control territories as they did in 2014, insecurity in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan remains a major concern.
The report noted that 95 per cent of terror attacks in 2024 were concentrated in these two provinces.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of incidents, with 295 attacks.
Meanwhile, attacks by Baloch insurgent groups, particularly the Balochistan Liberation Army, surged by 119 per cent, with 171 incidents reported in Balochistan. (PTI) -
Reports of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh ‘exaggerated’: BGB chief
Dhaka (TIP): The Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Feb 20 termed the reports of attacks on minorities in his country as ‘exaggerated,’ while asserting that authorities have taken steps for their protection.
Addressing a joint press conference here after the conclusion of the 55th edition of the border guarding forces’ DG-level talks, BGB chief Maj General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui said, “The news of attacks on minorities in the recent past in Bangladesh is an exaggeration. We provided security to puja pandals within eight kilometres of the international border during Durga Puja, which was held peacefully.”
BGB chief’s remarks in a way refuted the claims made by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha in November last year in which he had said “several incidents of desecration and damage to Hindu Temples and deities in Bangladesh have been reported in the past few months”.
The MoS had gone on record saying that the government of India has “expressed its concerns” about such incidents, including the attack on Puja Mandap in Tantibazar, Dhaka, and the theft at Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple at Shatkhira during Durga Puja 2024. He later also informed that the Bangladeshi authorities were requested to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities and their places of worship.
On the contentious issue of border fencing between the two countries, Siddiqui said that no side is allowed to construct permanent structures within 150 yards on either side of the IB. However, he noted that a communication gap takes place when fencing takes place within 150 yards.
Siddiqui further said, “Bangladesh has raised objections that proper consulting and mutual discussion need to be held. We hope to resolve that in the future so that construction can take place in the no-man’s land.”
The BGB chief maintained that there was no discussion on changing the 1975 clause on border alignment, as this was beyond the scope of this meeting. But the issue of distance from the zero line, where the fence should be, has always been part of the discussion.
“We have requested joint inspection at these locations,” he added.
Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhary, on his part, said the Bangladeshi delegation had raised objections regarding fencing at some places along the borders and also hoped that the issue would be resolved in the future.
On the issue of infiltration, particularly after former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, Chawdhary said, “After August 5, 2024, the forces from both the sides have operationally deployed to stop and curb any kind of infiltration across the border.” All over, the infiltration has substantially gone down and this is done with the active help of the BGB, he added.
This was the first top-level engagement between the two border guarding forces since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year. The last edition of these bi-annual talks was held in Dhaka in March last year.
The BSF guards the 4,096-kilometre-long India-Bangladesh boundary that runs across five states – West Bengal (2,217 kilometres), Tripura (856 kilometres), Meghalaya (443 kilometres), Assam (262 kilometres) and Mizoram (318 kilometres). (Express) -
Pakistani security forces kill 6 terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Peshawar (TIP): Pakistan security forces on Feb 21 killed at least six terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said. According to a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted on the reported presence of terrorists. The statement said that troops effectively engaged the militants and six of them were killed in the operation.
The ISPR said that a sanitisation operation was conducted to eliminate any other militant found in the area as the security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.
The country witnessed a sharp increase in terror attacks in January 2025, surging by 42 per cent compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think-tank. (PTI) -
Political clashes at Bangladesh university campus leave over 150 students injured
DHAKA (TIP): More than 150 students have been injured in Bangladesh during clashes at a university campus, a sign of serious discord between groups instrumental in fomenting a national revolution last year. Feb 18 afternoon’s clashes began after the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) sought to recruit students at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology in the country’s southwest. That sparked a confrontation with campus members of Students Against Discrimination, a protest group that led the uprising that ousted autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina last August. At least 50 people were taken for treatment after the skirmish, Khulna police officer Kabir Hossain told AFP.
“The situation is now under control, and an extra contingent of police has been deployed,” he added.
Communications student Jahidur Rahman told AFP that those hospitalised had injuries from thrown bricks and “sharp weapons”, and that around 100 others had suffered minor injuries. Footage of the violence showing rival groups wielding scythes and machetes, along with injured students being carted to hospital for treatment, was widely shared on Facebook. Both groups blamed the other for starting the violence, with the BNP student wing chief Nasir Uddin Nasir accusing members of Islamist political party Jamaat of agitating the situation to force a confrontation. (AFP) -
Battered Myanmar scam centre workers wait for deportation to China
SHWE KOKKO (TIP): Battered and bruised Chinese workers from online scam centres in Myanmar faced an anxious wait to return home, as Beijing and Thailand finalised plans on Feb 19 for their repatriation. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar’s lawless borderlands, staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to work swindling people around the world. Many of those involved are Chinese, though people from numerous countries are thought to have been caught up in an industry analysts say is worth billions of dollars a year.
The Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), a militia allied with the Myanmar junta, has said it is preparing to deport 10,000 people linked to the compounds in areas it controls on the border with Thailand.
In a shabby, strip-lit room in a building in Shwe Kokko — a Myanmar border town known as a hub for scam centres — dozens of workers, mostly Chinese, sprawled on plastic sheeting, looking exhausted as they awaited their deportation.
An AFP stringer was among a group of journalists taken by the BGF on Tuesday to meet some of the workers.
Some bore shocking bruises — one man’s bottom was completely covered in livid purple, while several showed painful lesions on their lower legs and other had burn injuries.
“I really want to go home,” said one Chinese man, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I wanted to go home as soon as I arrived. I really miss my parents and family.” “I am very nervous,” he told AFP.
(AFP) -
Bodies of 4 Pakistanis who died on a migrant boat journey off West Africa return home for burial
SHEIKHUPURA, Pakistan (TIP): The bodies of four Pakistanis who were among dozens who drowned in the capsizing of a migrant boat off West Africa last month have been repatriated.
The four were among 13 Pakistan citizens identified through DNA tests. Their remains were brought home from Morocco overnight by a Saudi flight that landed at the Islamabad International Airport, officials said Thursday. The bodies were later buried in their hometowns in Punjab province.
The boat had set off from Mauritania on Jan. 2 with 80 passengers, including several from Pakistan, according to the Foreign Ministry and a Spain-based migrant rights group, Walking Borders. The ministry said the boat capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla en route to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa where a large numbers of migrants head on a dangerous Atlantic crossing in ramshackle boats.
Walking Borders had said 50 people on the boat died on their way to the Canary Islands and 44 of them were Pakistanis. Pakistan has already repatriated all the 22 Pakistani survivors.
The brother of one of the migrants who died told The Associated Press that human smugglers had tortured and thrown the migrants, including his brother, into the sea over a payment dispute.
Mohammad Adnan said his family had agreed to paid 5 million rupees ($18,000) to a local human smuggler for sending his brother, Mohammad Arslan, to Europe and 4 million rupees ($14,000) were paid in advance. The rest was yet to be paid when they heard news about the capsizing, and later some of the survivors said the migrants were thrown into the sea.
Another man, Samar Iqbal, whose brother also died, said he did not know that human smugglers threw migrants into the sea. He said his brother Qaiser Iqbal in his last message had only said that he was boarding a boat and later he lost contact with him.
He made his comments before receiving the body of his brother at the airport. Recently, some of the survivors have also said their boat never capsized and African human smugglers had tortured migrants with hammers and threw them into the sea in a payment dispute.
No government official was immediately available to comment on the claims.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human smugglers.
After the sinking, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Jan. 18 stressed the need for strict measures to curb human trafficking. Pakistan says it is cracking down on human traffickers and sacked several immigration officials for negligence. (AP) -
Bangladesh summons Indian envoy after Sheikh Hasina accuses Yunus of assassination plot
NEW DELHI (TIP): Dhaka summoned India’s Acting High Commissioner, Pawan Badhe, on February 5 after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, of plotting to assassinate her.
Hasina made the allegation during a live Facebook address to her supporters and Awami League members. She claimed that she was forced to flee to India after Islamist groups and mobs attacked her residence, following the hijacking of a student protest. In response, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry strongly protested her remarks, calling them “false and fabricated.” A government advisor also opposed her statements, including those made on social media.
The interim government led by Yunus has filed multiple cases against Hasina and her family, accusing them of enforced disappearances, corruption, and crimes against humanity during the June-August protests, which left over 800 people dead.
Yunus has urged India to extradite Hasina, accusing her of destabilising Bangladesh with her comments. The protest note handed to the Indian envoy expressed “strong discontent and concern” over her remarks, calling them offensive to the Bangladeshi public. (PTI) -
Sri Lankan govt unaware of move to arrest former president Rajapaksa, says minister
COLOMBO (TIP): At least 59 of the 554 Sri Lankans have perished in the Ukraine war fighting for Russia, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament here on February 7.
“According to the information received by January 20 this year, 554 were recruited for the Russian military service,” Herath said.
There was no forcible enlisting of the Sri Lankans by Russia, Herath said adding, Colombo has been continuing its talks with the Russians to delist and send them back. Sri Lanka also pressed the Russians to discontinue the recruitment of Sri Lankans to fight in the war.
Sri Lankan police last year arrested two retired generals and six others for illegally acting as recruiting agents for Russian mercenary firms. Local reports said that the hardships faced by common people in the aftermath of the island nation’s economic crisis prompted the ex-soldiers to join in to fight the war for both sides. (PTI) -
India lodges strong protest involving firing by Sri Lankan Navy during apprehension of fishermen, MEA calls Acting High Commissioner
New Delhi (TIP)India has lodged strong protest involving firing by the Sri Lankan Navy during apprehension of 13 Indian fishermen in the close proximity of Delft Island on January 28. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in Delhi to lodge protest over the incident.
In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, “The Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi was called in today morning to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was lodged over the incident. Our High Commission in Colombo has also raised the matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sri Lankan government.”
According to the statement released by MEA, out of the 13 fishermen who were on board the fishing vessel, two suffered serious injuries and were undergoing treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital while three other fishermen who received minor injuries also received treatment. In a statement, MEA stated, “An incident of firing by the Sri Lankan Navy during the apprehension of 13 Indian fishermen in the proximity of Delft Island was reported in the early hours of this morning. Out of the 13 fishermen who were on board the fishing vessel, two have sustained serious injuries and are currently receiving treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.”
“Three other fishermen received minor injuries and have been treated for the same. Indian Consulate Officials in Jaffna have visited the injured fishermen at the hospital to seek their welfare and are extending all possible assistance to the fishermen and their families,” it added. According to the statement, the Indian government has always emphasised the need to treat issues related to fishermen in a humane and humanitarian manner, keeping in mind livelihood concerns. In a statement, MEA stated, “The use of force is not acceptable under any circumstances whatsoever. Existing understandings between the two Governments in this regard must be strictly observed.” (ANI) -
LPG tanker explodes in Pakistan, killing six people
LAHORE (TIP): A tanker filled with liquified petroleum gas exploded in an industrial area in Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at least six persons, including a minor girl, and injuring 31, authorities said on January 27. The incident took place at the Industrial Estate in Multan’s Hamid Pur Kanora area, according to rescue authorities. The explosion in the LPG tanker that occurred on Monday triggered a massive fire, with debris from the shattered vehicle landing on nearby residential areas, causing significant destruction, Geo News reported.
Rescue officials said that the fire was extinguished after hours of effort, involving over ten firefighting vehicles and foam-based fire suppression.
A total of five people were initially reported to have lost their lives in the deadly blast.
However, the death toll rose to six after rescue officials recovered another body from a house damaged by the explosion.
The deceased include a minor girl and two women, the report added.
The police reported that at least 20 houses surrounding the explosion site were completely reduced to rubble, while 70 were partially damaged.
Multan’s City Police Officer (CPO) Sadiq Ali told Geo News that several houses were destroyed, and livestock perished in the blaze.
He said that gas had been leaking from one of the valves of the tanker truck parked in the Industrial Estate. Some of the people present in the area had already evacuated after smelling the gas before the tanker exploded, he added.
Ali further stated that gas leakage from the tanker persists, prompting authorities to evacuate the area. Among the injured, 13 are reported to be in critical condition. The District Emergency Officer confirmed that an emergency has been declared at Nishtar Hospital, where the injured are receiving treatment.
Search operations are ongoing in the adjacent localities to ensure safety. Electricity and gas supply in the area has been suspended as a precautionary measure, though Multan-Muzaffargarh Road has now been reopened for traffic. (PTI) -
Bangladesh risks repeating Hasina regime’s mistakes: HRW
DHAKA (TIP): Reprisals against journalists and indiscriminate arrests risk undermining Bangladesh’s once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the legal abuses seen under ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, Human Rights Watch warned on January 28.
Hasina fled into exile last August after a student-led revolution ended her 15 years of autocratic rule, capping an uprising that claimed hundreds of lives.
An interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge days later, pledging to institute far-reaching democratic reforms and stage fresh elections.
In a report released Tuesday, HRW said Yunus’ administration had begun the process of reforming degraded institutions used as tools to persecute opponents of Hasina’s Awami League party.
But the watchdog’s Asia director Elaine Pearson warned “this hard-won progress could all be lost if the interim government does not implement swift and structural reforms”.
The report said that police had “returned to the abusive practices that characterized the previous government” to target Hasina’s supporters, filing charges against tens of thousands of people in the two months after Hasina’s ouster.
It said family members of those killed by security forces in the protests that toppled her government had been pressured into signing case documents without knowing who was being accused in their murder.
The report also said the interim government had taken drastic action against journalists it perceived to support Hasina’s government.
Murder charges were filed against at least 140 journalists by November for their alleged support of the Hasina government’s crackdown on protesters last summer, the report said.
Yunus’ government has yet to comment on the report.
The 84-year-old has said he inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration and justice that needs a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to autocracy. (AFP) -
Pakistan outlaws disinformation with three-year jail term
ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan criminalised online disinformation on January 28, passing legislation that enshrines punishments of up to three years in prison, a decision journalists say is designed to crack down on dissent.
The law targets anyone who “intentionally disseminates” information online that they have “reason to believe to be false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest.”
The law was rushed through the National Assembly with little warning last week before being approved by the Senate on Tuesday as journalists walked out of the gallery in protest.
Senior journalist Asif Bashir Chaudhry, a member of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, told AFP the government had assured reporters they would be consulted but said they were “betrayed and backstabbed”.
“We genuinely wanted a law against misinformation, but if it’s not being done through open discussion but rather through fear and coercion, we will challenge it on every available platform,” Chaudhry said.
“Even under dictatorships, legislation was not forcefully rammed through parliament the way this government is doing now.”
The bill will now be passed to the president to be rubber-stamped.
Analysts say the government is struggling with legitimacy after an election plagued with rigging allegations and with Pakistan’s most popular politician, former prime minister Imran Khan, in jail on a slew of corruption charges his party says are politically motivated.
Khan’s supporters and senior leaders have also faced a severe crackdown, with thousands rounded up.
Social media site X has been shut down in the wake of elections last February, as posts alleging vote tampering spread on the platform.
Khan’s name is censored from television and editors have reported increasing monitoring of their programming.
Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, a member of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, called the new law “highly undemocratic” and said it would “fuel the political victimisation” of their activists.
However, government minister Tanveer Hussain said that the bill would focus on policing social media.
“I am sure that in the future, the anarchy caused in society through social media will be controlled,” he said.
There has been a proliferation of “disinformation” laws, including criminal legislation, worldwide in the past decade enabling governments to control speech online and police “fake news”, according to human rights organisation Article 19.
Such laws can impede journalism, according to the group, which promotes freedom of expression and information globally. (AFP) -
Over 40 Pakistanis among dozens feared drowned en route to Spain by boat
ISLAMABAD (TIP): Over 40 Pakistanis are feared dead after a boat carrying 80 migrants, attempting to reach Spain, capsized near Morocco, according to officials.
Migrant rights group Walking Borders on January 16 said 50 migrants may have drowned.
Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people a day earlier from a boat that had left Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis.
Forty-four of those presumed to have drowned were from Pakistan, Walking Borders CEO Helena Maleno said on X. “They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she said.
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement on Thursday night said its embassy in Morocco was in touch with the local authorities. “Our Embassy in Rabat (Morocco) has informed us that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including several Pakistani nationals, setting off from Mauritania, has capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla.
Several survivors, including Pakistanis, are lodged in a camp near Dakhla,”it said. It added that a team from the embassy has been dispatched to Dakhla to facilitate the Pakistani nationals and provide necessary assistance while the Crisis Management Unit in the Foreign Ministry has been activated.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar instructed the relevant government agencies to extend all possible facilitation to the affected Pakistanis.
President Asif Ali Zardari in a statement called for far-reaching and effective steps to stop human smuggling.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a report on the incident from authorities and said that strict action would be taken against those involved in the heinous act of human trafficking.
Hundreds of Pakistani migrants die every year while attempting to cross into Europe via perilous land and sea routes with the help of human smugglers. (pti)