Indian Coast Guards rescue 81 Rohingya in drifting boat, eight dead, one missing

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar - Indian FM ( via AP)

The Indian Coast Guard found 81 survivors and eight dead in a boat full of Rohingya refugees drifting in the Andaman Sea, an official from India's foreign ministry said on Friday, adding that survivors would not be allowed into Indian territory.

Foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said Thursday that another refugee who reported the rescue was missing.

The United Nations refugee agency was alarmed earlier this week over the missing boat, which set off from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh on February 11 and set up refugee camps for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing neighboring Myanmar.

After spending four days at sea, the boat's engine failed and those on board ran out of food and water, Srivastava said. Many were ill when they were rescued and suffered from extreme dehydration.

Two Indian Coast Guard vessels have been sent to help 23 child refugees and the Indian government is in talks with Bangladesh to ensure their safe return.

India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which describes refugee rights and state responsibilities to protect them. It has no domestic law to protect the more than 200,000 refugees it currently shelters, including Rohingyas from Myanmar.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh following a deadly crackdown by security forces in Myanmar in 2017.

"Bangladesh respects its international obligations under the BMDHS (United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea)," Bangladesh's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Opponents fight as supporters of Myanmar coup plan more protests

Protesters in Myanmar

Supporters and opponents of the Myanmar army clashed in the streets of Yangon on Thursday, authorities prevented students from leaving their campuses until March, a day after the first diplomatic rush to resolve the crisis. The country has been in turmoil since the army took power in February detaining civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and most of the party leadership after the army complained of fraud in the November elections.

Nearly three weeks of daily protests and strikes took place, and students pledged to reappear in Yangon's commercial center on Thursday.

"We students have to overthrow the dictatorship," said Kaung Sat Wai, 25, outside of Yangon's main university campus.

"Our lives have become desperate since the coup, our dreams have died."

However, the police closed the campus gates and prevented hundreds of students from entering.

At the same time, about 1,000 supporters of the army gathered for a rally in the center of Yangon.

Some threatened the news photographers, media workers said, and fights broke out between pro and anti-military demonstrators. “A photographer got a little hurt,” he said.

Later, military supporters threw stones and catapults, witnesses said, and there was an unconfirmed report of a stabbing.

This conflict highlighted the volatility in a country that was largely paralyzed by protests and a campaign of civil disobedience to the military, in which many professionals and Government employees participated.

Doctors would hold a protest on Thursday as part of the so-called white coat revolution.

Facebook said it banned the Instagram platform and the Myanmar military from using it immediately, while Facebook said it was banning the Myanmar military from using it and the Instagram platform immediately. It showed the risk of violence and allowing the military to use the platforms.

The ruling Military Council spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters phone call seeking comment.

Security forces showed more restraint than previous pressure on people pushed into a democracy during almost half a century of direct military rule.

According to reports in the state media, the military chief General Min Aung Hlaing said that the authorities are following a democratic path in combating protests and that the police use Minimum Force like rubber bullets.

A rights group said that as of Wednesday, 728 people had been arrested, charged, or convicted of pro-democracy protests.

The military took action to overthrow the government, citing military fraud complaints in November. The 8 elections that were swept by Suu Kyi's Party as expected were ignored.

The Election Commission said the voting was fair. The military said its action was part of the constitution and promised to hold a new election after examining the voter lists.

Suu Kyi has been detained at her home in the capital, Naypyitaw, since the coup, but her party said the November victory should be respected.

The crisis has restored Myanmar's reputation as a troubled member of the 10-country ASEAN, and the diplomatic intervention of its neighbors is emerging as wider international concern grows.

The United States, Britain, and others imposed limited sanctions on members of the junta and military enterprises.

Ghana 1st country to receive Covax Vaccines

Ghana receives Covax Vaccines / Via AA

According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the arrival of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the West African country marks the beginning of the largest vaccine supply and supply operation in history. This is an effort to end the pandemic and is welcomed as the delivery of a highly sought-after vaccine to developing countries for the first time during an ongoing epidemic.

“Today marks the historic moment we planned and worked hard. "With the first shipment of doses, we can fulfill the promise of the COVAX facility to ensure that people from less affluent countries are not lagging behind in the race for life-saving vaccines," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

However, the initiative created by low- and middle-income countries to ensure fair access to vaccines has been hampered by severely limited global dose supply and logistical issues. Although it aims to deliver 2 billion shots this year, there are currently legally binding agreements for only a few hundred million shots.

It has already missed its goal of starting vaccines in developing countries, at the same time vaccines were being distributed to the developed countries. The overall campaign has been extremely irregular so far with 80% of the 210 million doses administered worldwide having been delivered to just 10 countries, General Manager Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week.

Ghana is among the 92 countries that will receive free vaccines through the initiative administered by the WHO; Gavi, a vaccine group; and Coalition of outbreak preparedness innovations. An additional total of 90 countries and eight states have agreed to pay.

According to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccines delivered on Wednesday are the first of nearly 7 million doses produced by the Serum Institute in India for nearly 20 countries.