Cambodia

Last week in Asia, the overall number of demonstrations declined significantly; reported fatalities declined as well. In South Asia, the week was marked by protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 in Northeast India while three Islamic State militants were reportedly killed in Counter Terrorism Department operations in Pakistan. In Southeast Asia, there was an increase in protests around election delays in Thailand, while two Buddhist monks were reportedly killed by suspected separatists in the south of the country.

Two international charities from the North West have combined forces to help save hundreds of civilians from landmine injuries in Cambodia.

At a special signing ceremony, MAG’s Chief Executive Jane Cocking and Find a Better Way’s (FABW) Lou McGrath put pen to paper on a 15-month project to remove landmines from some of the worst-affected land in western Cambodia.

Last week in South and Southeast Asia, reported fatalities from political violence increased slightly, while instances of targeted civilian violence sharply declined as part of a visible trend since the last week of December 2018. Key developments included ongoing militant violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a significant eruption of labour demonstrations in India and Bangladesh, as well as demonstrations in Thailand over a likely delay in the upcoming February elections.

Introduction

This is the first IOM Regional Data Report on Asia and the Pacific. This statistical product highlights the complex migration trends that characterize this region of the world. The report is predominantly based on IOM primary data collection activities and covers the whole 2017 and the first six months of 2018.

At the start of 2019, there was a slight decline in the overall levels of political violence and protest in South and Southeast Asia from late 2018. Still, the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 was marked by large-scale political violence during the Bangladesh general elections, a significant increase in battles between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Myanmar, and a spate of bombings in southern Thailand tied to the separatist conflict.

In Numbers

427 mt of food assistance distributed

USD 7,729 cash based transfers made

USD 1.8 million net funding requirement from December 2018 to May 2019

279,100 people assisted in November 2018

Operational Updates

Security Incidents and Access Constraints

Africa

Burundi

05 November 2018: The Burundian government announced that 25 INGOs who had their registration suspended on 16 September 2018 for not complying with Burundian law, are now re-registered.
Meanwhile, the registration of 11 others are still not registered for action. Source: Radio Tèlèvision Nationale du Burundi

Cameroon

• Tropical storm PABUK continued west-north-west towards southern Thailand strengthening. On 3 January at 0.00 UTC, its center was located approx. 250 km north-east of Kuala Terengganu (Terengganu State, Malaysia) and 650 km south-east of Nakhon Si Thammarat (Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand) with maximum sustained winds of 74 km/h.

• Over the next 24 hours, it is forecast to continue north-west, strengthening, and could make landfall as a tropical storm in southern Thailand on the morning of 4 January.

ONE ASEAN ONE RESPONSE FOR CENTRAL SULAWESI

“The tsunami caught everyone in a state of panic. I was near the beach, and everything happened so fast” recalls Misfar, a resident of Palu after a series of disaster events rocked Central Sulawesi on Friday evening the 28th of September, 2018.

Read More

MONTHLY DISASTER REVIEW AND OUTLOOK

NOVEMBER | DISASTER MONITORING & ANALYSIS (DMA) UNIT AHA CENTRE

Stockpiles of excess, poorly-secured, or otherwise at-risk conventional weapons continue to pose a challenge to peace and prosperity worldwide. In the wrong hands, SA/LW fuel political instability and violence, while more advanced conventional weapons, such as MANPADS, pose a serious threat to international security. Aging munitions stockpiles may also explode without warning, devastating nearby population centers. Meanwhile, landmines and ERW, including cluster munition remnants, artillery shells, and mortars, continue to kill and maim people even after conflicts end.

Last week, in South and Southeast Asia, the overall number of political violence and protest events decreased. There were also positive steps towards an end to the government crisis in Sri Lanka. However, the week was marked by deadly violence in India’s Jammu & Kashmir, large-scale inter-party violence in Bangladesh, and ongoing fighting between the military and the Arakan Army in Myanmar.

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), is implementing the program on “Strengthening Capacity of Government, Local Humanitarian Organizations and Private Sector Networks on Preparedness for Response in Asia”.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 17 December 2018: A new fish-based wafer snack – Nutrix, has been developed to treat severe acute malnutrition in children by UNICEF, the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Copenhagen University (CU) and Danish Care Foods (DCF), in collaboration with the Royal Government of Cambodia.

Siem Riep, December 7 2018 – With support from the UN Development Programme, Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management is increasing capacity on preparedness for recovery by localising international guidelines on post-disaster needs assessment and disaster recovery, and building the capacity of national and provincial officials to implement those guidelines

Defending human rights on the frontlines in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

UNDP and partners under the UN Climate Resilience Initiative A2R are developing a multi-country project focused on the needs of persons with disabilities to cope with climate change in Asia and the Pacific.

By Vasundhara Jolly, Climate Change Adaptation Consultant, Global Environmental Finance Unit, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. December 8, 2018.

ABSTRACT

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is like tango, it takes two — the ocean and the atmosphere — to complete. This year, despite widespread above-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, the atmosphere has not yet responded. Therefore, only “ENSO-neutral” conditions have prevailed in the region so far.

Although the stage is set for the tango, ENSO may or may not materialize, or just slightly influence some parts of the region.

On 9 and 10 December the international community will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The creation of these landmark documents, inextricably linked in sentiment as well as time, was guided by the “never again” conviction in the aftermath of World War II.

87,051 refugee returnees (2014 - 2018)

This figure includes voluntary repatriation from Kenya (82,840) and Assisted Spontaneous return from Yemen (3,053) as well as 1,158 returns from other countries such as Djibouti (696), Libya (353), Sudan (64), Eritrea (34), Pakistan, Gambia, Angola, Cambodia and others. Somali refugees from these or other countries who return spontaneously without assistance from the UNHCR are not included.

82,840 refugee returnees from Kenya (2014 - 2018)