Human Rights

Understanding Rio+20

JOHANNESBURG, 3 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - A Nobel laureate, a Swedish environmentalist’s idea, the “doughnut” concept, Scandinavia’s sense of social capital, measuring the quality of life, and valuing the oceans are just some of the things trending in the run-up to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development due to be held on 20-22 June 2012. full report

AID POLICY: A “new humanitarianism” at play in Syrian crisis

 AMMAN, 30 March 2012 (IRIN Middle East) - In a trendy coffee shop in the Jordanian capital, Amman, 20- and 30-somethings smoking sheesha pipes are playing the role of international aid agencies from their laptops. full report

MYANMAR: What next for the Rohingyas?

 BANGKOK, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - As Myanmar gears up for a by-election on 1 April, experts and community leaders are divided over what the ongoing reforms may hold for the Rohingya people, a stateless Muslim ethnic group living in the country’s Northern Rakhine State. full report

MYANMAR: Hundreds of political prisoners still behind bars

 MAE SOT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - Human rights groups say hundreds of Burmese political prisoners remain incarcerated, despite an amnesty in January, when about 600 of the most prominent activists were released. full report

MYANMAR: Refugees and dissidents react to reforms

 CHIANG MAI/MAE SOT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - How much does it take to repair trust once it is broken? How welcoming does home need to be to coax someone to return? IRIN met with Burmese exiles, dissidents and refugees living in northern Thailand to discover their reactions to ongoing reforms in Myanmar. full report

ISRAEL: Water being used to coerce Bedouin villagers, says NGO

 UMM AL-HIERAN, NEGEV DESERT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Middle East) - Salim Abu al-Qi’an’s family live in Israel’s Negev desert in the “unrecognized” Bedouin village of Umm al-Hieran, 9km from the nearest source of clean water. full report

MYANMAR: OVERVIEW

 YANGON, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - As millions of Burmese go to the polls on 1 April, expectations are high for real change. Across this Southeast Asian nation and abroad there is an unprecedented sense of hope not seen in decades following a wave of political reforms now described by Myanmar's own government as "irreversible". full report

Briefing: Myanmar’s ethnic problems

 MAE SOT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - Mutual distrust, power struggles and tension over the hoarding of resources, including gold, gems and timber, have characterized the long history between the rulers of Myanmar - primarily of Burman background - and the many other smaller ethnic groups that comprise this Southeast Asian nation of more than 50 million. full report

MYANMAR: Timeline post-independence

 BANGKOK, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - As millions go to the polls across Myanmar, IRIN took a brief look at a chronology of key events that have impacted this nation of around 50 million since the country gained its independence from Britain in 1948. full report

In Depth: What next for Myanmar?

 BANGKOK, 29 March 2012 (IRIN In-Depth) - What next for Myanmar? full report

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