Human rights

Sri Lanka’s Government has a “historic opportunity” to end decades of impunity and deliver justice for victims of past violations, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) has said, urging sweeping reforms to address crimes committed during and after the country’s civil war.

According to the study, which surveyed 2,000 workers from 290 units, 93 per cent of workers’ ESI contributions are not deducted, 92 per cent are excluded from PF benefits, and 90 per cent are not issued salary receipts.

The council also criticized the government for excluding minorities from all reform commissions, which were set up to recommend measures aimed at combating discrimination and promoting social justice.

The global human rights watchdog said that Afghanistan now faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, exacerbated by donor governments’ aid cuts and the return of 1.9 million refugees expelled from Iran and Pakistan. 

Terming forced religious conversion and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu minor girls to older Muslim men as the most concerning issue, the report notes that there are few legal options available to the victims.

While the removal of the death penalty for two relatively obscure crimes was welcomed by international rights groups, many activists argue the government’s action is insufficient.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has sounded a dire warning about Afghanistan’s escalating hunger crisis, as an economic downturn, recurring droughts, and the forced return of thousands of Afghan migrants strain the country’s fragile infrastructure and limited resources.

UNICEF also called for more humanitarian aid and commercial traffic to come in to stabilise the situation and reduce the desperation of the population.