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China has been accused of human rights violation and genocide of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. &nbsp;
China has dismissed the allegations &nbsp;as &ldquo;disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of the presumption of guilt.&rdquo;
The Uyghur issue particularly gained international attention after the release of a UN report in 2018 which was followed by the UN human rights chief&rsquo;s visit to the region, leaks of classified government documents such as the one published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists famously known as the &lsquo;China Cables&rsquo;, investigations by human rights activists, and most importantly testimonies from members of the community themselves. &nbsp;
The alleged detentions, forcible training as well as abuses inside enclosed government facilities have been described by the government of the United States, parliaments of the UK as well as European Union nations and many international groups as a form of &ldquo;genocide&rdquo;. But mystery still shrouds the region and the so-called detention centres that China calls Vocational Education and Training Centers (VETCs) as no media or human rights observers have been given unfettered access to them.&nbsp;
Why is Xinjiang important for China?&nbsp;
Located in the northwest, Xinjiang covers more than 1.6 million sq km and is the largest region of China. It is rich in oil and natural gas besides its natural beauty.&nbsp;
China has been ramping up energy production in Xinjiang with the aim of bolstering oil extraction and refining, coal production, power generation, and natural gas production and transport.&nbsp;
Pipelines and high-voltage wires are now visible in the deserts of the region, as per a New York Times report.&nbsp;
Xinjiang has an estimated 21 billion tons of oil reserves, a fifth of China&rsquo;s total. With explorations underway major new deposits are being found. &nbsp;&nbsp;
It also has the country&rsquo;s largest coal reserves, an estimated 40 percent of the national total, and the largest natural gas reserves, according to the Chinese Ministry of Land Resources. China is eyeing to capitalize on these energy reserves to power its cities and industries.&nbsp;
History of Xinjiang&nbsp;
The term Xinjiang translates to &lsquo;new frontier&rsquo; or &lsquo;borderland&rsquo;.&nbsp;
Xinjiang has a long history of cross-migration by different minority groups owing to its location along the ancient Silk Road&mdash;a major trade route active from the second century to the mid-15th century.&nbsp;
The region has been declared independent twice. In 1933 and 1944 an independent East Turkestan was declared by the then-majority Uyghurs. Once the Uyghurs were defeated by nationalist Chinese and the second time by the Chinese communists with help from the erstwhile Soviet Union.&nbsp;
China believes it has an ancient claim to Xinjiang and considers it an &ldquo;inseparable part of the Chinese nation&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Uighurs, however, disagree. They argue that the region&rsquo;s borders have been drawn and redrawn by the dominant powers over centuries.&nbsp;
Who are the Uyghurs?&nbsp;
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) also called East Turkestan by the Uyghur community.&nbsp;
The language spoken by the Uyghurs, which is of the same name, has Turkic roots.
The community culturally and ethnically doesn&rsquo;t identify with the Han Chinese--the largest ethnic group in the country.&nbsp;
The Uyghurs have been practising Islam for centuries, tracing their religious influence to the Karakhanid, a Turkic fiefdom that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. Prior to this, they followed other religions including Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.&nbsp;
Uyghurs pitted against Han Chinese?&nbsp;
Other ethnic groups residing in the region include Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Tatars but of late, Xinjiang has allegedly witnessed the mass migration of members of the Han Chinese community to the region. &nbsp;
Many have accused the state of encouraging the resettlement to allegedly change the demography and dilute the minority population that makes up less than half of the Xinjiang residents.&nbsp;
Beijing has also allegedly stepped-up security measures in Xinjiang in recent years in what it calls an effort to combat separatism and Islamic extremism it thinks stems from the different ethnic and religious identity of the Uyghurs in the region.&nbsp;
In 1953, the Uyghur population was spread in more than 75 percent of the region, according to a census cited in the UN report while the Han Chinese accounted for seven percent. That number now stands at around 42 percent.&nbsp;
Violent clashes involving both Uyghurs and Han killed around 200 people in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009, as per an AFP report. &nbsp;
&nbsp;

Explained: why is China being accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang

Mystery still shrouds China's Xinjiang and the so-called detention centres that Beijing calls Vocational Education and Training Centers for Uyghurs. Here's all you need to know about the ethnic minority community and its history.

The alleged detentions, forcible training, and abuses in enclosed government facilities have been described by the United States, parliaments of the UK as well as European Union nations and many international groups as a form of &ldquo;genocide&rdquo; against Uyghurs.

China has been accused of human rights violation and genocide of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. &nbsp;
China has dismissed the allegations &nbsp;as &ldquo;disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of the presumption of guilt.&rdquo;
The Uyghur issue particularly gained international attention after the release of a UN report in 2018 which was followed by the UN human rights chief&rsquo;s visit to the region, leaks of classified government documents such as the one published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists famously known as the &lsquo;China Cables&rsquo;, investigations by human rights activists, and most importantly testimonies from members of the community themselves. &nbsp;
The alleged detentions, forcible training as well as abuses inside enclosed government facilities have been described by the government of the United States, parliaments of the UK as well as European Union nations and many international groups as a form of &ldquo;genocide&rdquo;. But mystery still shrouds the region and the so-called detention centres that China calls Vocational Education and Training Centers (VETCs) as no media or human rights observers have been given unfettered access to them.&nbsp;
Why is Xinjiang important for China?&nbsp;
Located in the northwest, Xinjiang covers more than 1.6 million sq km and is the largest region of China. It is rich in oil and natural gas besides its natural beauty.&nbsp;
China has been ramping up energy production in Xinjiang with the aim of bolstering oil extraction and refining, coal production, power generation, and natural gas production and transport.&nbsp;
Pipelines and high-voltage wires are now visible in the deserts of the region, as per a New York Times report.&nbsp;
Xinjiang has an estimated 21 billion tons of oil reserves, a fifth of China&rsquo;s total. With explorations underway major new deposits are being found. &nbsp;&nbsp;
It also has the country&rsquo;s largest coal reserves, an estimated 40 percent of the national total, and the largest natural gas reserves, according to the Chinese Ministry of Land Resources. China is eyeing to capitalize on these energy reserves to power its cities and industries.&nbsp;
History of Xinjiang&nbsp;
The term Xinjiang translates to &lsquo;new frontier&rsquo; or &lsquo;borderland&rsquo;.&nbsp;
Xinjiang has a long history of cross-migration by different minority groups owing to its location along the ancient Silk Road&mdash;a major trade route active from the second century to the mid-15th century.&nbsp;
The region has been declared independent twice. In 1933 and 1944 an independent East Turkestan was declared by the then-majority Uyghurs. Once the Uyghurs were defeated by nationalist Chinese and the second time by the Chinese communists with help from the erstwhile Soviet Union.&nbsp;
China believes it has an ancient claim to Xinjiang and considers it an &ldquo;inseparable part of the Chinese nation&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Uighurs, however, disagree. They argue that the region&rsquo;s borders have been drawn and redrawn by the dominant powers over centuries.&nbsp;
Who are the Uyghurs?&nbsp;
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) also called East Turkestan by the Uyghur community.&nbsp;
The language spoken by the Uyghurs, which is of the same name, has Turkic roots.
The community culturally and ethnically doesn&rsquo;t identify with the Han Chinese--the largest ethnic group in the country.&nbsp;
The Uyghurs have been practising Islam for centuries, tracing their religious influence to the Karakhanid, a Turkic fiefdom that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. Prior to this, they followed other religions including Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.&nbsp;
Uyghurs pitted against Han Chinese?&nbsp;
Other ethnic groups residing in the region include Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Tatars but of late, Xinjiang has allegedly witnessed the mass migration of members of the Han Chinese community to the region. &nbsp;
Many have accused the state of encouraging the resettlement to allegedly change the demography and dilute the minority population that makes up less than half of the Xinjiang residents.&nbsp;
Beijing has also allegedly stepped-up security measures in Xinjiang in recent years in what it calls an effort to combat separatism and Islamic extremism it thinks stems from the different ethnic and religious identity of the Uyghurs in the region.&nbsp;
In 1953, the Uyghur population was spread in more than 75 percent of the region, according to a census cited in the UN report while the Han Chinese accounted for seven percent. That number now stands at around 42 percent.&nbsp;
Violent clashes involving both Uyghurs and Han killed around 200 people in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009, as per an AFP report. &nbsp;
&nbsp;

The UN labour agency estimates that some 50 million people worldwide were living in “modern slavery” - either in forced labour or marriage – at the end of last year, marking a 25 per cent jump from its previous report five years ago.
The International Labour Organisation and partners point to worrying trends such as “commercial sexual exploitation” affecting nearly one in four people who are subject to forced labour and with the poor, women and children hardest hit.
ILO, along with the UN's International Organisation for Migration and the Walk Free foundation - a rights group that focuses on modern slavery - reported that 28 million people were in forced labour and 22 in forced marriages at the end of 2021.
The report released on Monday said such figures marked an increase of 10 million people living in modern slavery since the last such report was published in 2017, based on figures a year earlier. Two-thirds of the increase pertained to forced marriages alone, it said.
Grace Forrest, founding director of Walk Free, said in an Associated Press interview in New York that the increase is about equal to the population of Greece.
The 50 million figure, she said, “is undoubtedly conservative as it has gaps from child marriage to the worst forms of child labour. So this is the baseline estimate of people living in modern slavery throughout the world." Based on available data, ILO and partners found increases in child and forced marriages in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Congo, Egypt, India, Uganda and Yemen. But the report said wealthier countries were “not immune” to the problem, with nearly one-in-four forced marriages taking place in high or upper middle-income countries.
Crises including the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and armed conflict have underpinned rises in extreme poverty, unsafe migration, and gender-based violence in recent years, raising the risk of all forms of modern slavery, it said.
All told, more than 2/3 of all forced marriages were found in the Asia-Pacific region – the world's most populous region – but the highest number per capita came in Arab countries where nearly 5 in 1,000 people were in forced marriages.
Forced marriage, the report said, is closely tied to “long-established patriarchal attitudes and practices” – while 85 per cent of cases were driven by “family pressure.” Regarding forced labour, about one in eight of those affected were children and half of those in commercial sexual exploitation.
“(Modern slavery) is a man-made problem, connected to both historical slavery and persisting structural inequality,” Walk Free's Forrest said in a statement, as the ILO chief urged a broader effort to fight it.
Director-General Guy Rider of the UN labour agency, which brings together workers, businesses and governments, called for “an all-hands-on-deck approach” and said, “trade unions, employers' groups, civil society and ordinary people all have critical roles to play.”

UN: 50 million people lived in 'modern slavery' last year

The report said 28 million people were in forced labour and 22 in forced marriages at the end of 2021

The UN labour agency estimates that some 50 million people worldwide were living in &ldquo;modern slavery&rdquo; - either in forced labour or marriage &ndash; at the end of last year, marking a 25 per cent jump from its previous report five years ago.
The International Labour Organisation and partners point to worrying trends such as &ldquo;commercial sexual exploitation&rdquo; affecting nearly one in four people who are subject to forced labour and with the poor, women and children hardest hit.
ILO, along with the UN's International Organisation for Migration and the Walk Free foundation - a rights group that focuses on modern slavery - reported that 28 million people were in forced labour and 22 in forced marriages at the end of 2021.
The report released on Monday said such figures marked an increase of 10 million people living in modern slavery since the last such report was published in 2017, based on figures a year earlier. Two-thirds of the increase pertained to forced marriages alone, it said.
Grace Forrest, founding director of Walk Free, said in an Associated Press interview in New York that the increase is about equal to the population of Greece.
The 50 million figure, she said, &ldquo;is undoubtedly conservative as it has gaps from child marriage to the worst forms of child labour. So this is the baseline estimate of people living in modern slavery throughout the world."
Based on available data, ILO and partners found increases in child and forced marriages in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Congo, Egypt, India, Uganda and Yemen.
Also Watch| <a href="https://www.editorji.com/world-news/caste-discrimination-poverty-closely-inter-linked-in-india-un-report-1660815754588">Caste discrimination, poverty closely inter-linked in India: UN report</a>
But the report said wealthier countries were &ldquo;not immune&rdquo; to the problem, with nearly one-in-four forced marriages taking place in high or upper middle-income countries.
Crises including the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and armed conflict have underpinned rises in extreme poverty, unsafe migration, and gender-based violence in recent years, raising the risk of all forms of modern slavery, it said.
All told, more than 2/3 of all forced marriages were found in the Asia-Pacific region &ndash; the world's most populous region &ndash; but the highest number per capita came in Arab countries where nearly 5 in 1,000 people were in forced marriages.
Forced marriage, the report said, is closely tied to &ldquo;long-established patriarchal attitudes and practices&rdquo; &ndash; while 85 per cent of cases were driven by &ldquo;family pressure.&rdquo; Regarding forced labour, about one in eight of those affected were children and half of those in commercial sexual exploitation.
&ldquo;(Modern slavery) is a man-made problem, connected to both historical slavery and persisting structural inequality,&rdquo; Walk Free's Forrest said in a statement, as the ILO chief urged a broader effort to fight it.
Director-General Guy Rider of the UN labour agency, which brings together workers, businesses and governments, called for &ldquo;an all-hands-on-deck approach&rdquo; and said, &ldquo;trade unions, employers' groups, civil society and ordinary people all have critical roles to play.&rdquo;

Sri Lanka is facing a “devastating” economic crisis, a UN report has said, noting that “impunity” for past and present human rights abuses, economic crimes and corruption were the underlying causes for the island nation’s collapse. 

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis a result of past impunity for human rights abuses and economic crimes: UN report

Interestingly, it comes ahead of the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council Session, to be held in Geneva from September 12 to October 7, where a resolution on Sri Lanka is expected to be tabled.&nbsp;

Sri Lanka is facing a &ldquo;devastating&rdquo; economic crisis, a UN report has said, noting that &ldquo;impunity&rdquo; for past and present human rights abuses, economic crimes and corruption were the underlying causes for the island nation&rsquo;s collapse.
The report, prepared by the UN Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelet, was released on Tuesday, also suggested fundamental changes to address the current challenges and to avoid repetition of the human rights violations of the past.
Interestingly, it comes ahead of the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council Session, to be held in Geneva from September 12 to October 7, where a resolution on Sri Lanka is expected to be tabled.
This is also the first time that the top UN body has linked the economic crisis with Sri Lanka&rsquo;s gross human rights violations.
&ldquo;For sustainable improvement, it is vital to recognise and assist Sri Lanka to address the underlying factors, which have contributed to this crisis, including embedded impunity for past and present human rights abuses, economic crimes and corruption,&rdquo; the report said.
The broad-based demands by Sri Lankans from all communities for accountability and democratic reforms presented &ldquo;an important starting point for a new and common vision for the future,&rdquo; it said.
&ldquo;Fundamental changes will be required to address the current challenges and to avoid repetition of the human rights violations of the past,&rdquo; the report said.
Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 which was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.
Last week, the IMF announced that it will provide Sri Lanka a loan of about USD 2.9 billion over four years under a preliminary agreement to help the bankrupt island nation tide over its worst economic crisis and protect the livelihoods of the people.
The UN report called on the Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government to immediately end the reliance on draconian security laws and crackdowns on peaceful protests, reverse the drift towards militarisation and show renewed commitment to, and deliver on, security sector reform and ending impunity.
In July, Wickremesinghe imposed a state of emergency after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned from his post following massive anti-government protests over the government's mishandling of the economy.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said earlier this week that Sri Lanka will oppose a new resolution on its human rights accountability, especially an external investigation mechanism, at the UN Human Rights Council session.
Sabry said Sri Lanka was adopting a policy of engagement on rights accountability bilaterally and multilaterally and was looking for a lasting solution.
A possible draft resolution on Sri Lanka is expected to be presented on September 23.
This would be followed by a vote among the member states on the new draft resolution on October 6.
The UN rights body since 2013 has adopted resolutions calling for rights accountability for war crimes blamed both on the government troops and the LTTE group that ran a violent campaign to create a separate state for the Tamil minority in the north and east regions.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the now ousted former president, at that time ruthlessly ended Sri Lanka's nearly 30-year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009.
The former defence secretary, who stands accused of violating human rights, vehemently denies the charge.
Then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of Gotabaya, on May 18, 2009 declared the end of the 26-year war in which over 1,00,000 people were killed and millions of Sri Lankans, mainly minority Tamils, displaced as refugees inside the country and abroad.
Another resolution initiated in 2015, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, called upon the country to establish a credible judicial process with the participation of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators.
Sri Lanka, however, consistently opposed the idea.
In a 2021 resolution, the UN rights body rejected the domestic mechanism proposed by the then Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.
The 2021 resolution was adopted with 22 votes for and 11 siding with Sri Lanka, including China.
There were 14 abstentions including India.&nbsp;
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Child labour, caste-based discrimination and poverty are closely inter-linked in India, according to a UN report which highlighted contemporary forms of slavery, including severe discrimination against Dalit women in South Asia due to which they are systematically denied choices and freedoms in all spheres of life.
Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata in his report on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, said that deep-rooted intersecting forms of discrimination, in combination with multiple other factors, are the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery affecting minorities.
They are often the result of historical legacies, such as slavery and colonisation, systems of inherited status, and formalised and State-sponsored discrimination, he said.
Obokata said in the report to the UN General Assembly Wednesday that child labour (among children 5 to 17 years of age), including its worst forms, exists in all regions of the world.
In Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe, between 4 and 6 per cent of children are said to be in child labour, and the percentage is much higher in Africa (21.6 per cent), with the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa (23.9 per cent).
“In India, child labour, caste-based discrimination and poverty are closely interlinked. Child labour among minority and migrant children have also been reported in Angola, Costa Rica, Honduras and Kazakhstan, in various sectors,” the report said.
The report also notes that systematic discrimination has profound implications for the ability of affected individuals and communities to live a life of dignity and enjoy human rights on equal footing with others. Marginaliaed communities often remain overlooked in public policies and national budgetary allocations, and their access to justice and remedies in cases of human rights violations, including contemporary forms of slavery, is generally limited.
It said that the stigmatisation of some communities is perpetuated by negative stereotypes in the media, textbooks, or on the Internet, which contributes to their disempowerment.
People discriminated against on the basis of work and descent represent one example. They are bound by their inherited status and subjected to dehumanizing discourses that refer to “pollution” or “untouchability”, with no respect for human dignity and equality.
"Consequently, such people have limited freedom to renounce inherited occupations or degrading or hazardous work and are often subjected to debt bondage without sufficient access to justice,” the report said.
“Additional intersectional factors, such as class, gender and religion are also affected by caste realities. Dalit women in South Asia face severe discrimination, and as a result they are systematically denied choices and freedoms in all spheres of life,” it said, adding that consequently their access to services and resources is very limited, increasing their risk of being subjected to contemporary forms of slavery.
The report further notes that bonded labour continues to be prevalent among people discriminated against on the basis of work and descent, such as Dalits in South Asia.
Dalits in Bangladesh are forced to undertake certain types of labour as a consequence of their assigned caste status and are almost exclusively working in “unclean” jobs in urban areas, like street sweeping and burying the dead.
“Manual scavenging, predominantly carried out by Dalit women, is widely regarded as forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery, entailing harsh working conditions that have a negative impact on mental and physical health.” Obokata said in the report rates of child marriage spike among marginalized communities in particular, such as Roma girls in South-Eastern Europe.
Official data collected by the Forced Marriage Unit of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland suggests that a large majority of forced-marriage cases relate to Pakistan and, to a lower extent, to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Somalia.
Forced marriage of women and girls is a concern in Asia, including Cambodia, India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
It noted that various States have taken legislative and other measures to address inequality and discrimination experienced by minorities.
In the United States, federal contractors and subcontractors must take affirmative action to recruit and advance qualified minorities, and other initiatives including vocational training and outreach are simultaneously facilitated. Similar measures to enhance employability among minorities have been promoted in Albania, Australia, Belgium, India, Iraq, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Trade unions also make important contributions in advocating for the rights of minorities and migrant workers. It is “encouraging” that trade unions in Chile, Colombia, Ghana and India provide dedicated support and services for women workers.
It added that based on an independent assessment of available information, including submissions by stakeholders, independent academic research and testimonies of victims, the Special Rapporteur regards it as reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uighur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing has been occurring in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.

Caste discrimination, poverty closely inter-linked in India: UN report

Caste discrimination, poverty closely interlinked in India: UN report

The report on contemporary forms of slavery said that deep-rooted intersecting forms of discrimination are the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery affecting minorities.

Child labour, caste-based discrimination and poverty are closely inter-linked in India, according to a UN report which highlighted contemporary forms of slavery, including severe discrimination against Dalit women in South Asia due to which they are systematically denied choices and freedoms in all spheres of life.
Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata in his report on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, said that deep-rooted intersecting forms of discrimination, in combination with multiple other factors, are the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery affecting minorities.
They are often the result of historical legacies, such as slavery and colonisation, systems of inherited status, and formalised and State-sponsored discrimination, he said.
Obokata said in the report to the UN General Assembly Wednesday that child labour (among children 5 to 17 years of age), including its worst forms, exists in all regions of the world.
In Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe, between 4 and 6 per cent of children are said to be in child labour, and the percentage is much higher in Africa (21.6 per cent), with the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa (23.9 per cent).
&ldquo;In India, child labour, caste-based discrimination and poverty are closely interlinked. Child labour among minority and migrant children have also been reported in Angola, Costa Rica, Honduras and Kazakhstan, in various sectors,&rdquo; the report said.
The report also notes that systematic discrimination has profound implications for the ability of affected individuals and communities to live a life of dignity and enjoy human rights on equal footing with others. Marginaliaed communities often remain overlooked in public policies and national budgetary allocations, and their access to justice and remedies in cases of human rights violations, including contemporary forms of slavery, is generally limited.
It said that the stigmatisation of some communities is perpetuated by negative stereotypes in the media, textbooks, or on the Internet, which contributes to their disempowerment.
People discriminated against on the basis of work and descent represent one example. They are bound by their inherited status and subjected to dehumanizing discourses that refer to &ldquo;pollution&rdquo; or &ldquo;untouchability&rdquo;, with no respect for human dignity and equality.
"Consequently, such people have limited freedom to renounce inherited occupations or degrading or hazardous work and are often subjected to debt bondage without sufficient access to justice,&rdquo; the report said.
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&ldquo;Additional intersectional factors, such as class, gender and religion are also affected by caste realities. Dalit women in South Asia face severe discrimination, and as a result they are systematically denied choices and freedoms in all spheres of life,&rdquo; it said, adding that consequently their access to services and resources is very limited, increasing their risk of being subjected to contemporary forms of slavery.
The report further notes that bonded labour continues to be prevalent among people discriminated against on the basis of work and descent, such as Dalits in South Asia.
Dalits in Bangladesh are forced to undertake certain types of labour as a consequence of their assigned caste status and are almost exclusively working in &ldquo;unclean&rdquo; jobs in urban areas, like street sweeping and burying the dead.
&ldquo;Manual scavenging, predominantly carried out by Dalit women, is widely regarded as forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery, entailing harsh working conditions that have a negative impact on mental and physical health.&rdquo; Obokata said in the report rates of child marriage spike among marginalized communities in particular, such as Roma girls in South-Eastern Europe.
Official data collected by the Forced Marriage Unit of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland suggests that a large majority of forced-marriage cases relate to Pakistan and, to a lower extent, to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Somalia.
Forced marriage of women and girls is a concern in Asia, including Cambodia, India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
It noted that various States have taken legislative and other measures to address inequality and discrimination experienced by minorities.
In the United States, federal contractors and subcontractors must take affirmative action to recruit and advance qualified minorities, and other initiatives including vocational training and outreach are simultaneously facilitated. Similar measures to enhance employability among minorities have been promoted in Albania, Australia, Belgium, India, Iraq, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Trade unions also make important contributions in advocating for the rights of minorities and migrant workers. It is &ldquo;encouraging&rdquo; that trade unions in Chile, Colombia, Ghana and India provide dedicated support and services for women workers.
It added that based on an independent assessment of available information, including submissions by stakeholders, independent academic research and testimonies of victims, the Special Rapporteur regards it as reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uighur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing has been occurring in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.

World hunger rose in 2021, with around 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat -- and that was before the Ukraine war, which has sparked increases in the cost of grain, fertiliser and energy, according to a UN report released Wednesday.
“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” paints a grim picture, based on 2021 data, saying the statistics “should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms”.
“The most recent evidence available suggests that the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet around the world rose by 112 million to almost 3.1 billion, reflecting the impacts of rising consumer food prices during the (COVID-19) pandemic,” the heads of five UN agencies that published the report said in the forward.
They warned that the war in Ukraine, which began on Feb 24, “is disrupting supply chains and further affecting prices of grain, fertiliser and energy” resulting in more price increases in the first half of 2022. At the same time, they said, more frequent and extreme climate events are also disrupting supply chains, especially in low-income countries.
Ukraine and Russia together produced almost a third of the world's wheat and barley and half of its sunflower oil, while Russia and its ally Belarus are the world's No. 2 and 3 producers of potash, a key ingredient of fertiliser.
“The global price spikes in food, fuel and fertilisers that we are seeing as a result of the crisis in Ukraine threatened to push countries around the world into famine,” World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said at a UN event launching the report. “The result will be global destabilisation, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale.” He said in an online briefing that WFP's latest analysis reveals that “a record 345 million acutely hungry people are marching to the brink of starvation,” and “a staggering 50 million people in 45 countries are just one step away from famine.” There's a real danger that the number of people facing famine will rise in the coming months, Beasley said, urging world leaders “to act today to avert this looming catastrophe”.
According to the report, of the estimated 2.3 billion people who were moderately or severely “food insecure” in 2021, the number facing severe food insecurity rose to about 924 million.
The prevalence of “undernourishment” -- where food consumption is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life -- is used to measure hunger. Undernourishment continued to rise in 2021, and the report estimates that between 702 million and 828 million people faced hunger last year.
The report said hunger kept rising in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021, but at a slower pace than from 2019 to 2020.
“In 2021, hunger affected 278 million people in Africa, 425 million in Asia and 56.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean,” it said.
UN development goals call for ending extreme poverty and hunger by 2030, but the report says projections indicate that 8% of the world's population -- nearly 670 million people -- will be facing hunger at the end of the decade. That's the same number of people as in 2015 when the goals were adopted.
The gender gap in food insecurity, which grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, widened even further from 2020 to 2021, the report said.
Driven largely by widening differences in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in Asia, it said that “in 2021, 31.9% of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6% of men”.
In 2020, the report said, an estimated 22% of children under the age of 5 — or 149 million — had stunted growth and development while 6.7% — or 45 million — suffered from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition. At the other end of the scale, it said 5.7% of youngsters under 5, or 39 million, were overweight.
“Looking forward, the gains we made in reducing the prevalence of child stunting by one-third in the previous two decades -- translating into 55 million fewer children with stunting -- are under threat by the triple crises of climate, conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” the five UN agency chiefs said. “Without intensified efforts, the number of children with wasting will only increase.” The heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund, World Health Organisation and International Fund for Agricultural Development said the intensification of these three crises combined with growing inequalities require “bolder action” to cope with future shocks.
With forecasts for global economic growth in 2022 revised downward significantly, the five agencies expected more limited financial resources to invest in “agrifood systems” -- the production, handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing and consumption of agricultural products.
But the agency chiefs said the almost $630 billion annually that governments spend to support food and agriculture globally can be invested “in agrifoood systems equitably and sustainably”.
Currently, they said, “a significant proportion of this support distorts market prices, is environmentally destructive, and hurts small-scale producers and indigenous peoples, while failing to deliver healthy diets to children and others who need them the most.” The five agency heads said evidence shows that if governments redirect their resources to prioritize consumers of food and give incentives for producing and supplying nutritious foods “they will help make healthy diets less costly and more affordable for all”.
The report said a key recommendation “is that governments start rethinking how they can reallocate their existing public budgets to make them more cost-effective and efficient in reducing the cost of nutritious foods and increasing the availability and affordability of healthy diets”.
WFP's Beasley called for an urgent political solution that allows Ukrainian wheat and grain to re-enter global markets, substantial new funding for humanitarian organisations to deal with “the skyrocketing levels of hunger” around the world, governments to resist protectionism and keep trade flowing, and investments to help the poorest countries protect themselves against hunger and other shocks.
“If we had successfully threaded this needle in the past,” he said, “the war in Ukraine wouldn't be having such a disastrous global impact today.”

 UN: 2.3 billion people severely or moderately hungry in 2021

&ldquo;The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World&rdquo; paints a grim picture, based on 2021 data, saying the statistics &ldquo;should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger.

World hunger rose in 2021, with around 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat -- and that was before the Ukraine war, which has sparked increases in the cost of grain, fertiliser and energy, according to a UN report released Wednesday.
&ldquo;The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World&rdquo; paints a grim picture, based on 2021 data, saying the statistics &ldquo;should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms&rdquo;.
&ldquo;The most recent evidence available suggests that the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet around the world rose by 112 million to almost 3.1 billion, reflecting the impacts of rising consumer food prices during the (COVID-19) pandemic,&rdquo; the heads of five UN agencies that published the report said in the forward.
They warned that the war in Ukraine, which began on Feb 24, &ldquo;is disrupting supply chains and further affecting prices of grain, fertiliser and energy&rdquo; resulting in more price increases in the first half of 2022. At the same time, they said, more frequent and extreme climate events are also disrupting supply chains, especially in low-income countries.
Ukraine and Russia together produced almost a third of the world's wheat and barley and half of its sunflower oil, while Russia and its ally Belarus are the world's No. 2 and 3 producers of potash, a key ingredient of fertiliser.
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&ldquo;The global price spikes in food, fuel and fertilisers that we are seeing as a result of the crisis in Ukraine threatened to push countries around the world into famine,&rdquo; World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said at a UN event launching the report. &ldquo;The result will be global destabilisation, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale.&rdquo; He said in an online briefing that WFP's latest analysis reveals that &ldquo;a record 345 million acutely hungry people are marching to the brink of starvation,&rdquo; and &ldquo;a staggering 50 million people in 45 countries are just one step away from famine.&rdquo; There's a real danger that the number of people facing famine will rise in the coming months, Beasley said, urging world leaders &ldquo;to act today to avert this looming catastrophe&rdquo;.
According to the report, of the estimated 2.3 billion people who were moderately or severely &ldquo;food insecure&rdquo; in 2021, the number facing severe food insecurity rose to about 924 million.
The prevalence of &ldquo;undernourishment&rdquo; -- where food consumption is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life -- is used to measure hunger. Undernourishment continued to rise in 2021, and the report estimates that between 702 million and 828 million people faced hunger last year.
The report said hunger kept rising in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021, but at a slower pace than from 2019 to 2020.
&ldquo;In 2021, hunger affected 278 million people in Africa, 425 million in Asia and 56.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean,&rdquo; it said.
UN development goals call for ending extreme poverty and hunger by 2030, but the report says projections indicate that 8% of the world's population -- nearly 670 million people -- will be facing hunger at the end of the decade. That's the same number of people as in 2015 when the goals were adopted.
The gender gap in food insecurity, which grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, widened even further from 2020 to 2021, the report said.
Driven largely by widening differences in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in Asia, it said that &ldquo;in 2021, 31.9% of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6% of men&rdquo;.
In 2020, the report said, an estimated 22% of children under the age of 5 &mdash; or 149 million &mdash; had stunted growth and development while 6.7% &mdash; or 45 million &mdash; suffered from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition. At the other end of the scale, it said 5.7% of youngsters under 5, or 39 million, were overweight.
&ldquo;Looking forward, the gains we made in reducing the prevalence of child stunting by one-third in the previous two decades -- translating into 55 million fewer children with stunting -- are under threat by the triple crises of climate, conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic,&rdquo; the five UN agency chiefs said. &ldquo;Without intensified efforts, the number of children with wasting will only increase.&rdquo; The heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund, World Health Organisation and International Fund for Agricultural Development said the intensification of these three crises combined with growing inequalities require &ldquo;bolder action&rdquo; to cope with future shocks.
With forecasts for global economic growth in 2022 revised downward significantly, the five agencies expected more limited financial resources to invest in &ldquo;agrifood systems&rdquo; -- the production, handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing and consumption of agricultural products.
But the agency chiefs said the almost $630 billion annually that governments spend to support food and agriculture globally can be invested &ldquo;in agrifoood systems equitably and sustainably&rdquo;.
Currently, they said, &ldquo;a significant proportion of this support distorts market prices, is environmentally destructive, and hurts small-scale producers and indigenous peoples, while failing to deliver healthy diets to children and others who need them the most.&rdquo; The five agency heads said evidence shows that if governments redirect their resources to prioritize consumers of food and give incentives for producing and supplying nutritious foods &ldquo;they will help make healthy diets less costly and more affordable for all&rdquo;.
The report said a key recommendation &ldquo;is that governments start rethinking how they can reallocate their existing public budgets to make them more cost-effective and efficient in reducing the cost of nutritious foods and increasing the availability and affordability of healthy diets&rdquo;.
WFP's Beasley called for an urgent political solution that allows Ukrainian wheat and grain to re-enter global markets, substantial new funding for humanitarian organisations to deal with &ldquo;the skyrocketing levels of hunger&rdquo; around the world, governments to resist protectionism and keep trade flowing, and investments to help the poorest countries protect themselves against hunger and other shocks.
&ldquo;If we had successfully threaded this needle in the past,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the war in Ukraine wouldn't be having such a disastrous global impact today.&rdquo;

A US government watchdog's report has noted that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani almost certainly did not flee Kabul as it fell to the Taliban with millions of dollars in stolen cash.The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report is an interim document, as the office is still awaiting answers to questions sent to Ghani.
First reported by Politico, it interviews witnesses as well as officials who were in the helicopter convoy with Ghani as they hastily fled the Presidential Palace in Kabul while the Taliban marched into the capital on August 15, 2021.
In subsequent days, multiple reports suggested that Ghani and the other officials took up to $169 million in Afghan government money with them. Ghani has always fiercely denied these claims.
The report states that although SIGAR found that some cash was taken from the grounds of the palace and loaded onto these helicopters, evidence indicates that this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to $500,000.

Did former Afghan president Ghani flee with chopper full of cash: UN report has this to note

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction&nbsp;report is an interim document, as the office is still awaiting answers to questions sent to Ghani.

A US government watchdog's report has noted that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani almost certainly did not flee Kabul as it fell to the Taliban with millions of dollars in stolen cash. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction&nbsp;report is an interim document, as the office is still awaiting answers to questions sent to Ghani.
First reported by Politico, it interviews witnesses as well as officials who were in the helicopter convoy with Ghani as they hastily fled the Presidential Palace in Kabul while the Taliban marched into the capital on August 15, 2021.
In subsequent days, multiple reports suggested that Ghani and the other officials took up to $169 million in Afghan government money with them. Ghani has always fiercely denied these claims.
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The report states that although SIGAR found that some cash was taken from the grounds of the palace and loaded onto these helicopters, evidence indicates that this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to $500,000.

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