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Vaccinate industrial workers, family members: PM

 

Human Rights Report
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday directed the authorities concerned to take a separate programme to bring the industrial workers and their family members under the Covid-19 vaccination coverage as soon as possible. She also asked them to consider reducing the existing two-month duration between two doses of inoculation. The premier made these directives at the weekly cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat. She chaired the meeting joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban. Cabinet Secretary KhandkerAnwarul Islam briefed the newsmen at the Secretariat about the outcome of the meeting.
"A special discussion was held over the industrial workers (in the meeting) . . . Since Bangladesh would get six crore more doses of vaccine from Sinopharm as per an agreement signed by the Health Ministry, the prime minister gave an instruction to vaccinate the workers quickly," said the Cabinet Secretary.
Mentioning that the Prime Minister would herself oversee the matter, Anwarul Islam said, "She (the premier) has given instruction to vaccinate not only the workers but also their family members." He said the Prime Minister also directed the relevant authorities to consider the matter whether it would be possible to shorten the existing two-month duration between two doses of inoculation on the basis of recommendation of the national technical advisory committee on Covid-19.
Replying to a query regarding the recent untoward situation in Barishal, Cabinet Secretary KhandkerAnwarul Islam said all parties-field administration, law enforcement agencies and public representatives-were asked to interact regularly to avoid miscommunication and untoward incidents, which recently took place in Barishal.
 

BHRC Human Rights Report on August- 2021
5510 people died of Covid-19 in August 2021
Total 233 person killed in August 2021

Human Rights Report:

The documentation section of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) and International Human Rights Commission-IHRC jointly furnished this human rights survey report on the basis of daily newspapers and information received from its district, sub-district and municipal branches. BHRC survey found a total of 233 deaths in the killings. According to official figures, 5510 people died of the Covid-19 in all over the country. In August 2021, there were an average of 178 Covid-19 deaths and 8 deaths in killing per day. The Law enforcing agencies and related Govt. departments should be more responsible so that percentage of killing May be brought down to zero level. To institutionalize the democracy and to build human rights based society the rule of law and order must be established everywhere. Through enforcing rule of law only such violation against human rights can be minimized. 5510 persons died by corona virus in August 2021 according to official estimates
It appears from documentation division of BHRC:
Total 233 person killed in August 2021
Killed due to social discrepancy 3, killing by family violence 15, Political Killing 5, Killed by Law enforcing authority 5, Killed by BSF 2, Assassination 6, Mysterious death 40, Women & Chilled killed due to rape 2.
Killed by several accidents: Killed by road accident 139, Suicide 7.
Besides victims of torture: Rape 9.

 

Afghan minister becomes a bicycle courier
 

Human Rights Report:
Sayed Sadaat used to be communications minister in the Afghan government before moving to Germany last December in the hope of a better future. Now he is a delivery man in the eastern city of Leipzig.
He said some at home criticised him for taking such a job after having served in the government for two years, leaving office in 2018. But for him now, a job is a job. "I have nothing to feel guilty about," the 49-year-old British-Afghan dual citizen said, standing in his orange uniform next to his bike. He had quit the Afghan government because of disagreements with members of the president's circle, he said. "I hope other politicians also follow the same path, working with the public rather than just hiding."
His story has gained particular prominence with the chaos unfolding at home after the Taliban takeover. Family and friends of his also want to leave - hoping joining the thousands of others on evacuation flights or trying to find other routes out. With the withdrawal of US troops on the horizon, the number of Afghan asylum seekers in Germany has risen since the beginning of the year, jumping by more than 130%, data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees showed. Even though his duel citizenship meant he could have chosen to move to Britain, where he had spent much of his life, he relocated to Germany at the end of 2020, seizing his last opportunity to do so before that path was closed by Britain's exit from the European Union.
He chose Germany because he expected it to have a better economic future and a leading role in the telecom and IT sectors in the long term. But even with his background, Sadaat has struggled to find a job in Germany that matched his experience. With degrees in IT and telecommunications, Sadaat had hoped to find work in a related field. But with no German, his chances were slim.
 

Mamata slams Modigovt. as nephew summoned over coal scam
 

Human Rights Report:
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister NarendraModi's government for "unleashing federal probe agencies against her family members", hours after her nephew and his wife were summoned for questioning by a federal probe agency in connection with an alleged coal scam.
"Why are you unleashing the ED (Enforcement Directorate) against us. Against your one case we will raise bagfuls. We know how to fight back," Mamata told the media in state capital Kolkata, reports UNB.
Mamata's nephew Abhishek, an parliamentarian, and his wife Rujira have been asked to appear before the federal agency at its headquarters in New Delhi on September 6 and 1, respectively, in connection with the case pertaining to illegal mining and theft of coal from two leasehold mines in the eastern Indian state.
 

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Rohingya repatriation needs a politico-diplomatic solution

 

Human Rights Report:

Media reports published on 25 August said the return of the Rohingya people to their homeland is not in sight, even four years after the fresh influx of 2017. One slim hope has elapsed as the UNDP and the UNHCR have failed to renew a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Myanmar in June for creating what they said a 'cosmetic' environment conducive to the repatriation. The three parties signed the MoU in June 2018 for a year which was then extended twice to extend cooperation through June 2021.
It appears the UN bodies had aimed at building a conducive environment for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas and assisting the returnees to carry on life and livelihood as members of Myanmar society. But as they themselves said their 'cosmetic quick impact projects' like installing tube-wells and latrines as part of creating an environment for safe return has failed to deliver. It also attempted a need assessment for creating about 100 Buddhist-majority mixed villages with the presence of few Rohingyas and eventually 250 such villages. Non-cooperation of Myanmar government made the entire plan useless.
Meanwhile, no meeting of the secretary-level joint working group (JWG) of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Rohingya issues was held in the past two years due to reluctance of Myanmar. As we see, the international environment has changed. All nations are now fighting the repeated waves of Coronavirus. The US and European nations which could make an impact on any repatriation deal are devastated. On the other hand the military government in Myanmar is defiant as always to any repatriation move and countries like China and Russia are not showing much interest in resolving the dire humanitarian crisis.
In our view any cosmetic attempt by UN agencies to create an environment for repatriation is just a joke to mitigate the Rohingya problem which needs a political solution. But we can't also allow permanent Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh like the Palestinians in Jordan and Lebanon. Our government's ineffective diplomacy is to blame for the failure to resolve the crisis.
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Bangladesh to get 40 more ambulances as gift from India

 

Human Rights Report:
Forty more Life Support ambulances from India have arrived in Petrapole and will leave for Dhaka on Thursday after getting necessary customs clearance at Benapole Land Custom Check Post.
The rest of 38 ambulances are expected to arrive in Dhaka by mid-September, said the High Commission of India (HCI) to Bangladesh.
During the state visit of Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi to Bangladesh on March 26-27, he had announced the gift of 109 Life Support ambulances to the Government of Bangladesh, to further enhance healthcare, especially in the shared effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
In fulfillment of that commitment, 31 ambulances which arrived earlier have been handed over to the Government of Bangladesh on August 17.
 

US encourages int'l community to support peace building in Rakhine State

 

Human Rights Report:
The United States welcomed the inclusive path forward envisioned by the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar and other pro-democracy groups in the country and their pledge to reform the 1982 citizenship law, among other actions intended to protect the rights of Rohingya and members of other ethnic minority groups.
The United States will continue to partner with the people of Myanmar to support peace and justice, critical humanitarian assistance, a return to the path to democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In a press statement marking the Fourth Anniversary of the Ethnic Cleansing in Rakhine State, Spokesperson of the US Department of State, Ned Price said on Tuesday in Washington DC that the United States will continue to promote justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for atrocities and other human rights abuses.
"To that end, we have imposed visa restrictions and financial sanctions on top military leaders and units, including those linked to serious human rights abuse against Rohingya, and suppression of peaceful protests since the February 1 coup. We have also supported the UN fact finding and investigative mechanisms focused on Burma; and pressed Burma to implement the International Court of Justice's provisional measures order," reads the statement. It said four years ago, Burma's military launched a horrific ethnic cleansing against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State.
"We encourage other members of the international community to likewise support peace building and social cohesion work in Rakhine State, and to contribute to the Joint Response Plan."

I fear for my Afghan sisters, says Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai

Human Rights Report:
Nobel Prize laureate MalalaYousafzai on Tuesday (Aug 17) wrote "I fear for my Afghan sisters" in an op-ed published in The New York Times in the wake of the Taleban's stunning takeover. "We will have time to debate what went wrong in the war in Afghanistan, but in this critical moment we must listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls. They are asking for protection, for education, for the freedom and the future they were promised," MsYousafzai, 24, wrote.
"We cannot continue to fail them. We have no time to spare." MsYousafzai, long an advocate for girls' education, survived a Pakistani Taleban assassination attempt when she was just 15 years old when the militants shot her in the head in rural northwest Pakistan. Since then the Oxford graduate has become a global figure promoting education for girls. The Taleban took effective control of Afghanistan on Sunday when president Ashraf Ghani fled and the insurgents walked into Kabul with no opposition. It capped a staggeringly fast rout of the country's major cities in just 10 days, following two decades of war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The Taleban led a pariah regime from 1996 to 2001, infamous for a brutal rule in which girls could not go to school, women were barred from working in jobs that would put them in contact with men, and people were stoned to death.

 

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