ROME, Dec 17 2021 (IPS)* – Human rights are under global assault. In 2021, the escalation of the worldwide siege on human rights included clampdowns on civil society organisations, attacks on minorities, the undermining of democratic institutions, and violence against journalists.
Young people take part in a pro-democracy demonstration in Myanmar. Credit: Unsplash/Pyae Sone Htun via United Nations
Meanwhile, more than 10 months since Myanmar’s military seized power, the country’s human rights situation is deepening on an unprecedented scale, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned December 10.
The Threat of a Large-Scale Global Famine by the Middle of the 21st Century
John Scales Avery
Unless efforts are made to stabilize and ultimately reduce global population, there is a serious threat that climate change, population growth, and the end of the fossil fuel era could combine to produce a large-scale famine by the middle of the 21st century.
As glaciers melt in the Himalayas and the Andes, depriving India, China and South America of summer water supplies; as sea levels rise, drowning fertile rice-growing regions of Southeast Asia; as droughts reduce the food production of North America and Southern Europe; as groundwater levels fall in China, India, the Middle East and the United States; and as high-yield modern agriculture becomes less possible because fossil fuel inputs are lacking, the 800 million people who are currently undernourished may not survive at all.
(UN News)* — The UN food relief agency warned on Wednesday [22 December 2021] that it is running out of funds to continue providing food assistance to 13 million Yemenis.
From January, eight million who are going hungry in Yemen will receive a reduced food ration, while five million others who are at immediate risk of slipping into famine, will remain on a full ration.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures and we have to stretch our limited resources and prioritize, focusing on people who are in the most critical state”, said Corinne Fleischer, Regional Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for the Middle East and North Africa.
Why international organisations prefer to chase the chimera of poverty
Between $20 and $30 trillion US dollars remains hidden from tax authorities | Image from Wall Street International.
22 December 2021 (Wall Street International)* — At the beginning of October 2021, the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) published the Pandora Papers – leaked data on how the world’s very rich hide their wealth in tax havens. The practice is perfectly legal, but less so when it is used to avoid or evade tax.
In both cases, it is money that remains hidden, and not only skews the statistics – according to Tax Justice between $20–30 trillion US dollars remain hidden from the tax authorities – but also causes financial problems for national governments.
Is It Predestination, Karma, or Hedonistic Colonial Subjugation by People of Aryan Origins? An Odyssey of Generational Suffering of Humanoids of Colour
The decapitated head of a Shark Island prisoner sent to Germany for experimentation
In Part 1 of this paper[1] the oppression and subjugation of the Scheduled Castes, formerly called the Dalits, the “Untouchables” people in India, on the basis of the tenets of Hinduism, whereby the lot of the lowest caste people was predestined on their karmas in their previous cycle of life; The process of Reincarnation.
(UN News)* — Belarus and Poland must resolve the migrant and refugee crisis at their mutual border, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday [21 December 2021], describing the on-going situation as “appalling”.
OHCHR again called on the two countries to address the matter in line with their obligations under international law.
This follows a visit by a UN human rights team to Poland from 29 November to 3 December. Members were not granted access to the restricted border area, while Belarus denied a request to visit.
MADRID, Dec 20 2021 (IPS)* – A bit of fiction. Or maybe not. If things keep going the way they are, the result will be that such a massive flux would create instability and tensions, impact the global markets, cause record prices of fossil fuels, food and everything else, and the bankruptcy of big private financial corporations…
Credit: UNHCR
Already seven years ago, a former director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacy Swing, estimated that the number of climate migrants and refugees could reach one billion humans by the year 2050.
In August, thousands of people who worked for the UK in Afghanistan were left to the Taliban’s mercy. openDemocracy spoke to four still stuck in Kabul.
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“I want the UK to keep its promises to us” – Baseer | All rights reserved
20 December 2021 (openDemocracy)* — On 31 August, the nearly 20-year NATO combat mission in Afghanistan ended in failure. Two weeks earlier, the Taliban had marched unopposed into Afghan capital Kabul, leaving the US and its allies, including the UK, scrambling to evacuate both their citizens and the Afghan nationals who had assisted them during the war.
(UNHCR)* — Intercommunal clashes that erupted in Cameroon’s Far North region in the past two weeks have driven at least 100,000 people from their homes, although the real number may be much higher, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on 17 December 2021 said. | Español | Français | عربي
(UN News)* — Afghanistan’s economy is in “free fall”, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday [19 December 2021], warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may “pull the entire population with it”.
Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths painted a grim picture of 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 per cent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students – Afghanistan’s future – out of school.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 