7 Myanmar refugees can approach UNHCR

The News:

·         In a significant Judgment, the Manipur High Court on Monday (May 3) ordered safe passage to New Delhi for seven Myanmarese persons to enable them to to avail suitable protection from the UNHCR.

·         7 Myanmarese citizens, had entered India illegally, and sought permission to travel to New Delhi to seek protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

·         It was learnt that three of the seven Myanmar nationals are journalists working with Mizzima News, while the rest are their kin.

·         The HC noted that although India has no clear refugee protection policy or framework, it does grant asylum to a large number of refugees from the neighbouring country.

·         It further noted that India usually respects UNHCR’s recognition of the status of such asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

·         Citing this, the court observed that the seven in question are not ‘migrants’, as normally understood, but are ‘asylum seekers’.

UNHCR: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is an important programme under the United Nations.

·        UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is an international organisation working to saving lives, safeguarding the rights and providing a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

·        The organisation’s target audience includes refugees, people who are forcibly displaced from their homes, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and stateless people.

·        The UNHCR was established in 1950 in the wake of the mass displacements caused due to the Second World War in Europe.

·        Since then, it has provided relief to thousands of refugees and displaced persons in many parts of the world.

·        The UNHCR has also won the Nobel Prize for Peace twice (1954 and 1981).

·        The chief legal document that governs the work of the UNHCR is the 1951 Refugee Convention.

·        The organisation works in 135 countries and in India, has offices in New Delhi and Chennai. It first established its presence in India in 1981.

·        The UNHCR is headed by the High Commissioner for Refugees.

·        Its parent organisation is the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

·        The UNHCR gives the Nansen Refugee Award annually to people who work in the field of refugee rights and protection.

UNHCR and India

·        Even though India is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention and the Protocol, and also does not have a national refugee protection framework, it accepts a large number of asylum seekers and refugees into the country.

·        Though the country generally follows the principle of non-refoulement as defined in the UNHCR guidelines, India deals with different refugee groups differently, that is, on a case by case basis.

·        Security considerations have led to the government granting asylum and refugee rights based on the group of people concerned. 

·        Most of the government-protected refugees are Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils.

    Embrace diplomacy, Blinken tells N.Korea

The News:

US said that North Korea needed to decide whether it wanted to engage diplomatically to see if there were ways to achieve the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsular.

Denuclearisation: Denuclearisation means states disposing of nuclear weaponry or power in their possession. It includes removal, banning, or eliminating nuclear weapons or nuclear power sources from a place, industry, or organisation. India has long supported the idea of total global denuclearisation rather than denuclearisation of few states through the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

International Relations
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan agree to a ceasefire after deadly clashes

What’s in News?

·        Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been involved in deadly clashes at their shared border.

·        Despite attempts to ensure a ceasefire, clashes have continued along the border.

·        Clashes between communities of the two countries over land and water along the long-contested border are regular occurrences, with border guards often getting involved.

International Relations

Xi sends message to Modi, offers China’s help

What’s in News?

·        China recently made a major reachout to India through a letter from its President Xi Jinping to PM Narendra Modi followed by a telephonic conversation between Foreign Ministers of both the countries.

·        After this conversation, US Secretary of State also called India to to review the flow of equipment and material from America.

·        China’s president is the fourth major world leader this week to reach out to PM Modi after US President, Japan PM and Russian President.

·        In his letter, Xi Jinping expressed concern about the recent situation in India and said Beijing stood ready to strengthen cooperation in providing support and help in fighting the pandemic.

·        The complexity of Sino-Indian ties came out in the conversation between the two countries.

·        In terse social media posts, Indian foreign Minister yielded little ground, refraining from thanking the Chinese side for the aid offers and instead highlighted the importance of “supply chains and air flights being kept open in these circumstances”, in an allusion to a Chinese air cargo company suspending its operations to India as well as to complaints from an Indian-American about Beijing blocking his purchases of Chinese equipment for dispatch to Delhi.

·        India also sought more openness to Indian chartered flights landing in China to bring back medical equipment and welcomed China’s assurances in that regard.

·        The issue of full and sincere implementation of the Moscow Agreement of complete disengagement at all friction points along the LAC and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh was also discussed and China agreed to continue discussions in this respect.

·        China further reiterated to support to India in procuring materials.

Relief material received by India from the other parts of the World:

·        UK: 280 oxygen concentrators, 40 ventilators

·        Ireland: 700 oxygen concentrators, 365 ventilators

·        Romania: 80 oxygen concentrators, 75 oxygen cylinders, 20 humidified oxygen therapy devices

·        US: Two flights — 500 oxygen cylinders, 9 lakh rapid diagnostic test kits and one lakh face masks

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan seeks to ease cross-border tensions

The News:

Recently, a ceasefire on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan appeared to be holding after a day of intense fighting between the two countries that has killed about 40 people and wounded about 175.

·        Both nations have claimed the area around the water supply facility in Kok-Tash, a dispute dating back decades to when they were both part of the Soviet Union.

·        The current configuration of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border is the product of Soviet mapmakers drawing the dividing lines for Soviet republics, after the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed in late 1991.

·        The twisting boundary between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is particularly tense as over a third of its 1,000-km length is disputed. Restrictions on access to land and water that communities regard as theirs have often led to deadly clashes in the past.

·        Russia and European Union (EU) welcomed the ceasefire deal and emphasised the need for a lasting and peaceful solution.

India’s Interest:

Political-

·        India has a very wide array of interests in Central Asia covering security, energy, economic opportunities etc.

·        Security, stability and prosperity of Central Asia is imperative for peace and economic development of India.

·        Central Asia serves as a land bridge between Asia and Europe, making it geopolitically axial for India.

·        Both India and Central Asian Republics (CARs) share many commonalities and perceptions on various regional and world issues and can play a crucial role in providing regional stability.

Economic-

·        The region is rich in natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, antimony, aluminum, gold, silver, coal and uranium which can be best utilized by Indian energy requirements.

·        Central Asia has huge cultivable areas lying barren and without being put to any productive use, offering enormous opportunity for cultivation of pulses.

·        CARs are fast getting linked to the global market for production, supplies of raw materials and services. They are also increasingly getting integrated into the East-West Trans-Eurasian transit economic corridors.

Initiatives and proposals by India:

·        India intends expansion of International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

·        It will act as a vital gateway to access Eurasian markets and optimally operationalize its use, requiring a Central Asian state joining the project as a direct stakeholder.

·        India has proposed setting up of ‘India-Central Asia Development Group’ to take forward development partnership between India & Central Asian countries.

·        This group will help India to expand its footprints in the resource-rich region amid China’s massive inroads and to fight terror effectively, including in Afghanistan.

International Relations

India, Australia, Japan pushes for supply chain resilience

What’s in News?

The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) was formally launched by the Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia.

·        The three sides agreed the pandemic “revealed supply chain vulnerabilities globally and in the region”.

·        They “noted the importance of risk management and continuity plans in order to avoid supply chain disruptions”.

·        Some of the joint measures they are considering aimed at reducing their reliance on China, include:

o   supporting the enhanced utilisation of digital technology and

o   trade and investment diversification,

·       The SCRI aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth in the region.

China describes the move as Unrealistic:

According to China, “Artificial industrial ‘transfer’ is an unrealistic approach that goes against the economic laws and can neither solve domestic problems nor do anything good to the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, or to the stable recovery of the world economy.”

International Relations

What happened to Armenians in 1915?

What’s in News?

·        US President Joe Biden said that the 1915 massacres(mass killing) of Americans in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a historic declaration that is set to infuriate Turkey and potentially further damage frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

Turkey’s say:

·        Turkey accepts that many Americans living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide

Was it a genocide?

According to Article II of the UN Convention on Genocide of 1948, genocide has been described as carrying out acts intended “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

Background:

·        In a way, the Armenians were victims of the great power contests of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

·        When the Ottoman Empire was in decline on its fringes by the last quarter of the 19th century, Armenians were seen by the rulers in Constantinople as a fifth column.

·        The resentment started building up after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 in which the Turks lost territories.

·        In the Treaty of Berlin, big powers dictated terms to the Ottomans, including putting pressure on the Sultan to initiate reforms in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds.

·        The Sultan saw this as a sign of strengthening ties between the Armenians and other rival countries, especially Russia.

·        In 1908, the Young Turks wrested control from the Sultan and promised to restore imperial glory. Under the Turks when the administration was run by the famous “Three Pashas”, the empire became more Turkic and persecution against the ethnic minorities picked up.

·        In October 1914, Turkey joined the First World War on the side of Germany.

·        In the Caucasus, they fought the Russians, their primary geopolitical rival.

·        But the Ottomans suffered a catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Sarikamish by the Russians in January 1915.

·        The Turks blamed the defeat on Armenian treachery and Armenians in the Ottoman Army were executed.

·        On April 24, the Ottoman government arrested about 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders. Most of them were later executed. (April 24 is the Remembrance Day).

·        After the fall of the empire, many Ottoman officials were tried and executed for the atrocities committed against Armenians.

·        The Three Pashas fled the country and took refuge in Germany.

·        But Armenian resistance fighters under the banner of Operation Nemesis continued to hunt down Ottoman officials.

·        In 1921 the Grand Vizier and key architect of the atrocities was assassinated on the street of Berlin by an Armenian student.

International Relations

China’s national security office to open permanent base in HK

What’s in News?

·        Hong Kong is set to grant a site on the western Kowloon peninsula to Beijing’s national security office for its permanent base in the city.

·        The office would operate beyond the scrutiny of local courts or other institutions.

·        It will oversee the Hong Kong government’s enforcement of the national security legislation that Beijing imposed on the city.

·        The national security law has allowed officers from China’s security forces to take enforcement action in the city for the first time.

·        The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of continued freedoms.

·        Pro-democracy activists say those freedoms are being whittled away, especially with the national security law cracking down on dissent.

International Relations

Australia ends China deals on national interest grounds

The News:

·         Australia has cancelled two accords between Victoria State and China on the Belt and Road Initiative because they were out of line with the federal government’s foreign policy.

·         It was asserted that Australia sees a “free and open Indo-Pacific” as a key goal.

• A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman responded by urging Australia to abandon its Cold War mentality and ideological bias and immediately correct its mistakes and change course.
• The China-Australia relationship is already facing serious difficulties.
• China blocked imports of Australian coal, beef, wine, lobsters and other goods after Australia called for an investigation into the coronavirus.
• Chinese ministers refuse to take calls from their Australian counterparts.

Important Facts:

·         China is Australia's No. 1 foreign market, but the sanctions impact has been limited, because Chinese steel mills still buy Australian iron ore, the country's most valuable export.

·         Any further penalties are likely to target "smaller export categories,” Fitch Ratings said.

·         Australian exports to China fell by 2% from a year earlier in the second half of 2020, the government says. Excluding iron ore, the decline would have been 40%.

Israel strikes Syria after attack near nuclear site

What’s in News?

Syria fired a surface-to-air missile to a secretive nuclear site in Israel’s southern Negev.

• The missile was fired to southern Israel, where the Dimona nuclear reactor is located. Dimona has for long been identified as the epicentre of the Israeli regime’s military nuclear program.
• In response strikes were launched by Israel.

• The exchange of fire comes less than two weeks after Iran accused its arch-foe Israel of terrorism following an explosion at the Islamic republic’s Natanz nuclear facility.
• Syria and Israel are technically at war, due to Tel Aviv’s (Israel) occupation of the former’s Golan Heights.
• Since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out aerial raids on the country, mostly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces as well as government troops.

International Relations

India should be a ‘country of particular concern’: U.S. panel

The News:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended for the second year in a row that the State Department put India on a list ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ (CPCs) for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020.

o   The administration must impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for severe violations of religious freedom.

o   Another recommendation was for the administration to promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at bilateral and multilateral forums such as Quad.

USCIRF

1.       USCIRF is an independent bi-partisan commission.

2.       It was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.

3.       USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.