Taliban Reportedly Stepping Up Door-to-Door Searches In Afghanistan: Daily Brief
Taliban reportedly step up searches for Afghan journalists and those who worked for NATO; Covid-19 vaccine boosters are exacerbating shortages; First Nation people in Australia left dangerously exposed to the coronavirus; hunger and poverty made worse by pandemic in Nigeria; crackdown on journalists continues in Myanmar; new steps to resolve long-standing land conflict in Uganda; and one billion children at risk from climate shocks.
Despite reassurances that there would be “no revenge”, there are reports the Taliban have stepped up their search for people who worked for NATO forces or the previous Afghan government, a UN document has warned. Journalists are also being targeted, while Taliban checkpoints are preventing people from reaching the airport in Kabul.
Wealthy governments are compounding Covid-19 vaccine shortage and inequities by planning to use another billion doses as “boosters” rather than focusing on distributing more vaccines around the world.
With limited access to Covid-19 vaccines First Nations people in Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) have been left dangerously exposed to the virus.
Millions of Nigerians are one misfortune away from hunger and abject poverty as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hamper the country’s economy. Their plight highlights the importance of social security, a fundamental right enshrined in international human rights covenants that Nigeria is a party to.
Since seizing power on February 1, Myanmar’s military junta has targeted journalists with arrests, lawsuits, raids on newsrooms and violence. This week, two more journalists were detained.
For at least 10 years, Ugandan authorities have violently evicted Apaa residents, claiming the area in the country’s Acholi sub-region is part of wildlife and forestry reserves. Last week, Ugandan President Museveni took new steps to resolve the longstanding land conflict.
And lastly: Almost half the world’s 2.2 billion children are at “extremely high risk” from the impacts of the climate crisis and pollution, a UNICEF report launched with youth activists ahead of the third anniversary of Greta Thunberg’s first school strike finds. The UN agency’s head called the situation “unimaginably dire”.