NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

The Center for Peace and Justice (CPJ) of Brac University and the Asia Foundation published a report titled: ‘Navigating the Margins: Family, Mobility and Livelihoods Amongst Rohingya in Bangladesh.’. This report described the ways that individuals and families living in refugee camps in Bangladesh cope with hardship and life in displacement. It presented new information on family separation as both an additional source of hardship and support through which remittances sometimes flow. It also described how it is often a risky but hopeful investment in a better future for those who manage to reach a third country beyond Myanmar and Bangladesh. The study also looked at economic hardship and the coping strategies of refugee households, presented new evidence on the cost of living in the camps, income sources and indebtedness, remittances, and the equivocal role of dowry payments. It included data on the gendered implications of displacement, mobility, and economic hardship.

The full report is available here.

Dr. Priya Pillai, Head of Asia Justice Coalition’s Secretariat joined Dr. Melanie O’Brien from the University Western Australia Law School in this podcast to discuss the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice against Myanmar in the The Gambia v. Myanmar Genocide Convention case.

With regards to the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice against Myanmar in the The Gambia v. Myanmar Genocide Convention case, Dr. Priya Pillai, Head of Asia Justice Coalition’s Secretariat commented: ‘Thus far, it’s been states trying to put pressure on Myanmar or using their good offices or ... diplomatic pressure’ but that ‘now, essentially for any state, there is legal leverage’.

The Daily Star reported on human rights groups’ call for the international community to press Myanmar to comply with the order issued by the International Court of Justice to protect Rohingyas in Rakhine from acts of possible genocide. Quotes from AJC and its members Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights are featured in this article.

With regards to the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice against Myanmar in the The Gambia v. Myanmar Genocide Convention case, Dr. Priya Pillai, Head of Asia Justice Coalition’s Secretariat commented that the ICJ twice ordered provisional measures during the Bosnian war but did little to stop the Srebenica genocide. The Rohingya will become yet another test case for how international law protects vulnerably minorities, but they won’t be the last.