170 journalists arrested since February 2021, 70 journalists, including 12 women, remain under detention: UN

New Delhi: According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), at least 170 journalists have been arrested since the military takeover in February of last year.

Nearly 70 journalists, including 12 women, remain under detention. UNESCO has also recorded over 200 incidents of media repression, including killings, arrests, detention, criminal cases, imprisonments, and raids of editorial offices.

In his daily news briefing, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, shows these figures showing concern about the safety of the journalists in Myanmar.

Forty-four journalists, which include seven women, have been sentenced for criminal offences by local courts. Also, media workers report that they experience digital surveillance of mobile phones and social media platforms.

Myanmar's military government, which overthrew the elected government on February 1, 2021, continues its crackdown on the independent media to gain control over information and censor any information going out of Myanmar.

The Internet hardly works, and several social media applications are banned. State media holds the monopoly.

Myanmar - Humanitarian aid in Crisis

Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesperson on the humanitarian situation in Myanmar, said that "aid workers have continued to respond to new needs, reaching 3.1 million people with at least one form of assistance in the first half of the year. However, a shortfall in funding and heavy access constraints have hindered us from delivering the full range of relief required by people in need."

The response for raising funds for Myanmar remains drastically underfunded. As of September 29, the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 20 per cent funded, leaving a gap of $680 million.

45 Indians from Myanmar rescued, alerts on dubious employment offers.

Indian government alerts Indians about dubious employment offers from overseas; the Ministry of External Affairs said that it has so far rescued 45 Indians from Myanmar who were trapped in fake job rackets.

"We have been actively pursuing the case of Indians trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar. Thanks to the efforts of @IndiainMyanmar & @IndiainThailand, around 32 Indians had already been rescued. Another 13 Indian citizens have now been rescued, & reached Tamil Nadu today," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

We have been actively pursuing the case of Indians being trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar.

Thanks to the efforts of @IndiainMyanmar & @IndiainThailand, around 32 Indians had already been rescued.

Another 13 Indian citizens have now been rescued,& reached Tamil Nadu today. pic.twitter.com/OfkPtnGUkZ

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 5, 2022

The official said, "Some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in the custody of Myanmar authorities for illegal entry into that country. Legal formalities have been initiated to get them repatriated at the earliest."

Instances of similar job rackets have also come to light from Laos and Cambodia. Indian Embassies in Vientiane, Phnom Penh and Bangkok, have been helping in repatriating people from there as the details of agents allegedly involved in this racket have been shared with the relevant authorities in various Indian states, Bagchi said.

These dubious IT firms, engaged in call-centre scams and cryptocurrency frauds, offer jobs to lure Indian youth for the posts of digital sales and marketing executives in Thailand. The firms have captured the attention of Indian Embassies in Bangkok and Myanmar, stated the Ministry in the advisory against fake job rackets issued on September 24.