Asia Undercovered Round-up: 24 May 2022

This issue: An update from Sri Lanka, Chinese nationals attacked (again) in Pakistan, and two forest protection solutions stories.

Undercovered last week

First, an update from Sri Lanka, where protests and political turmoil continue amist a worsening economic crisis. Some are calling the uprising an “Arab Spring” moment, but in this piece for Global Voices, Rezwan argues that what is happening is following a unique, local model.

One of the drivers may have been how the Rajapaksa regime used the pandemic to increase surveillance, militarization, and suppress human rights and civil society (Harindrini Corea, Engage Media).

According to RFA, China is increasingly restricting the ability of Chinese to get passports and to travel outside the country, under the guise of pandemic control. Of course, for Tibetans and Uyghurs, this has been the reality for several years now – another example of how oppression against a minority often impacts the majority, eventually.

Meanwhile, in Tibet, local nomads are being suppressed and losing their under the guise of environmental protection – and notably, global environmentalists, who claim to stand up for the rights of oppressed local communities, are mostly silent (ANI).