Cambodian interventions will not ease Myanmar crisis

Significance Cambodia is the 2022 chair of ASEAN, which has a five-point plan for resolving conflict between the Myanmar junta and its opponents. Hun Sen held talks with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing but did not meet ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces years in jail. Impacts The intensifying conflict will make it difficult to distribute humanitarian assistance and COVID-19 vaccines. Efforts by certain external players to encourage a return to elected government will likely diminish. The NUG’s commitment to violent insurgency will stop Washington, the junta’s foremost critic, backing the shadow government formally.

UNTANGLING THE NEEDS OF REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA: THE WAY FORWARD

Background and Purpose: NGOs have become the most vital actors in meeting refugees’ needs in Malaysia; alas, most of these concerns cover basic needs such as food, health care, and education. In this regard, this study investigates other forms of NGOs assistance that ought to be provided to Malaysia's refugee communities to enhance living standards. Methodology: This study employs a qualitative approach consisting of semi-structured interviews with Somalian, Rohingya, Pakistani and Syrian refugees. Data were collected during observation trips in Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor to comprehensively understand these diasporic communities, notably regarding the challenges refugees face in Malaysia. Findings: The data indicated that refugee communities are significantly in need of proper and accessible channels through which they might share their grievances, temporary shelters, mental health care, and language classes. The team concluded that these forms of assistance ought to be made available to all refugee communities in Malaysia. Without such forms of assistance from NGOs, refugees' lived realities are made invariably more difficult; this is in addition to their vulnerability to forces that threaten their security. Contributions: This paper provides insights into the needs of refugees in Malaysia based on interviews and observations conducted with them. Based on the findings, this research provides recommendations to NGOs to ameliorate life necessities for refugee communities. Keywords: Humanitarian assistance, Malaysia, NGOs, refugees, UNHCR. Cite as: Nazri, A. S., Talib@Khalid, K. A., Sulaiman, N., & Gidah, M. E. (2022). Untangling the needs of refugees in Malaysia: The way forward. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 196-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp196-220

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the perspective of Indonesia Defense Policy

The development and progression in humankind’s understanding of the world and life, ensured a continuous evolution in the response to events threatening our livelihoods. Humankind also developed techniques to deal with natural hazards, either by aiming to contain the forces of nature, or by altering human own behavior. The humanitarian assistance and disaster relief are crucially important in order to protect the nations. This research employed literature review method. The results showed that every nation should prepare and manage their capabilities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), both in protection for own countries or in providing aids for the others. Military Operation Other Than War (MOOTW) does not involve the use or threat of violence but prioritizes the provision of HADR. In MOOTW, military forces synergize with other institutions/organizations, especially those related to diplomacy, economy, government, even politics and religion. Moreover, in handling disasters, especially in Indonesia, the combination between civilians and the military is crucial in realizing Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) and Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord). Under certain mechanism, the military power is only used to support civilian institution in HADR.

Humanitarian diplomacy

Problem setting. Ensuring constant access to humanitarian aid during military conflicts and complex emergencies has always been an important issue for politicians. Its solution is to guarantee the protection of civilians in times of danger and political instability. The practice of humanitarian negotiations led to the emergence of the concept of humanitarian diplomacy in the early 2000s. It was to persuade community leaders and high-ranking decision-makers to act in the interests of vulnerable populations in accordance with humanitarian principles. Humanitarian diplomacy is carried out by humanitarian actors and includes the organization of a safe presence of humanitarian organizations, access to negotiations with the civilian population, monitoring assistance programs, and respect for international law. The development of humanitarian aspects of diplomacy is linked to the protection of the most vulnerable groups – ethnic and religious minorities, women, children, refugees, victims of armed conflict, terrorism and environmental disasters. An important task facing scholars is to study the nature of diplomacy, the history of its development, as well as modern models and tools. Scholars draw attention to the need to return in international relations to the philosophy of morality and values. In our opinion, it is expedient to define the concept of humanitarian diplomacy, to show the formation and development of humanitarian diplomacy and the institute of humanitarian law, to consider the problems of humanitarian activity in the modern world. Analysis of recent researches and publications. K. Schmitt, H. Arendt, M. Foucault, D. Agamben, D. Butler, ES Gromoglasova, TV Zonova, OF Rusakova studied the strategic dimension of humanitarian diplomacy and humanitarian law in their works. In addition, the famous works of domestic scientists such as VF Antipenko, M. Gnatovsky, V. Gutnik, T. Korotky, A. Talalaev, O. Tiunov, I. Lukashuk, J. Zhukorska and others. Target of research is to define the concept of “humanitarian diplomacy”, analyze the historical development of the concept of humanitarian law and diplomacy, describe the current problems of functioning. Article’s main body. The article examines the prerequisites and features of the formation of humanitarian diplomacy and humanitarian law. The authors try to give a modern definition of “humanitarian diplomacy, analyze the historical development of the concept of international humanitarian law and diplomacy.” The role of international organizations in the implementation of humanitarian aid to vulnerable groups during armed conflicts is highlighted, the current problems of humanitarian diplomacy are described. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Given the above, the authors can conclude that the ways of formation and development of humanitarian diplomacy were quite difficult. Only in the middle of the XIX century were the norms and principles on the basis of which vulnerable groups are protected; the first international legal acts of humanitarian law were adopted; international organizations have sprung up to provide humanitarian assistance to all those in need. In modern conditions, in our opinion, humanitarian diplomacy is becoming a key element in providing assistance to all vulnerable groups, which is provided by many actors, such as states, international organizations, ordinary people and their initiatives.

A Hydrologic Monitoring Dataset for Food and Water Security Applications in Central Asia

From the Hindu Kush Mountains to the Registan desert, Afghanistan is a diverse landscape where droughts, floods, conflict, and economic market accessibility pose challenges for agricultural livelihoods and food security. The ability to remotely monitor environmental conditions is critical to support decision making for humanitarian assistance. The FEWS NET Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS) global and Central Asia data streams described here combine meteorological reanalysis datasets and land surface models to generate routine estimates of snow-covered fraction, snow water equivalent, soil moisture, runoff and other variables representing the water and energy balance. This approach allows us to fill the gap created by the lack of in situ hydrologic data in the region. First, we describe the configuration of the FLDAS and the two resultant data streams: one, global, at ~1 month latency, provides monthly average outputs on a 10 km2 grid from 1982–present. The second data stream, Central Asia, at ~1 day latency, provides daily average outputs on a 1 km2 grid from 2001–present. We describe our verification of these data that are compared to other remotely sensed estimates as well as qualitative field reports. These data and value-added products (e.g., anomalies and interactive time series) are hosted by NASA and USGS data portals for public use. The global data stream with a longer record, is useful for exploring interannual variability, relationships with atmospheric-oceanic teleconnections (e.g., ENSO), trends over time, and monitoring drought. Meanwhile, the higher spatial resolution Central Asia data stream, with lower latency, is useful for simulating snow-hydrologic dynamics in complex topography for monitoring snowpack and flood risk.

Pandemi dan Pemenuhan Hak Anak: Studi Kasus Peran Unicef di Yaman pada Masa COVID-19

Covid-19 outbreak that was discovered in China in December 2019 has crippled the world economy and caused the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen to be hampered. In addition, there are still wars that cause damage to health facilities. The war, the Covid-19 pandemic, and Cholera disease are adding to the devastating effects on growing children in Yemen. UNICEF, as an IGO that focuses on children, reports that in 2020 there were approximately 34 cases of child abuse and attacks on educational facilities involving children. This research describes the role of UNICEF in Yemen from 2019 to 2020 in fulfilling children’s rights due to 3 disasters, namely Covid-19, internal conflict, and cholera that occurred in the country. This research looks at the role of international organizations as aid providers which is manifested in the form of Humanitarian Assistance. As a descriptive study, data for this research is collected from 2019 to 2020, including reports from The UNICEF, the WHO website, the UN website, and various verified mass media. UNICEF's role in the form of Humanitarian Assistance in Yemen is manifested in 5 programs: education, child protection, nutrition, health and sanitation. Keywords: UNICEF, Yemen, Humanitarian Assistance, Covid-19 Pandemic, Children’s Rights.

Mongolia’s Soft Power Tools in Relation to Russian Regions at the Beginning of the 21st Century.

This article discusses the features of international relations in Inner Asia through the prism of the Russian-Mongolian relationship. The specifics of contemporary bilateral relationships is determined by the nature of mutual influence in the economic, political and humanitarian spheres. The aim of this research is to analyze Mongolian implementation of the concept of ‘soft power’ in relation to the regions of Russia, which are culturally and historically defined as a ‘Mongolian world’. It was revealed that the foreign policy of Mongolia in relation to Russian regions such as the Republic of Buryatia, Republic of Tuva, Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal regions is being implemented in several directions. The first one is daily trade and economic contacts between Russian and Mongolian citizens. The second direction is represented by ethno-cultural holidays and festivals, within the framework of which the Mongolian language and traditions are promoted. The existing demand for the preservation and development of national cultures and languages of the indigenous peoples of Russia creates conditions for stimulating interest in all Mongolian language, literature, clothing, cuisine, cultural and sports events. Finally, Mongolia's success in fighting the pandemic during 2020 and its humanitarian assistance to the Russian regions affected by Coronavirus are also tools of ‘soft power’. The result of this policy is the spread of Mongolian influence in the border regions of the Russian Federation. In this regard, Moscow should also pay certain attention to these processes when building a strategy of bilateral relations at state level.

SOCIAL VULNERABILITY OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AS THE BASIS OF SOCIAL WORK WITH THEM

The article deals with basing of the necessity of social work with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in modern Ukraine, as not all of the problems of these people that have arisen as a result of forced resettlement have been resolved. The problem is in difference of the life trajectories of IDPs: some of migrants are in higher levels of income in the social hierarchy than residents of host communities, while others still live in collective housing in need of humanitarian assistance. Social differentiation within IDPs raises debates about the need to maintain common approaches to their social protection and social work with them. The purpose of this article is to prove the presence of signs of vulnerability in internally displaced persons, which necessitates the provision of social support by specialists working in the field of social work. To achieve this goal, the method of theoretical generalization and the method of deduction were used. The results of the study are the identification of such features of the social position of IDPs in Ukraine and features of their socio-psychological state, which evidence the presence of indicators of vulnerability, and therefore are the reason of social work with them in different areas. The presence of dual vulnerabilities in IDPs (the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care, a child or a person with a disability, a member of a family with many children, etc.) increases the need for social support from social services professionals.