EU lists Bangladesh among 7 ’safe’ countries, tightening asylum rules

The European Union on Wednesday unveiled a proposed list of seven countries it classifies as `safe,` aiming to streamline asylum procedures and accelerate the return of migrants from those nations.

In response to sweeping new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, several Asian nations are preparing to engage in trade negotiations with Washington to mitigate the potential impact on their economies.

Thailand-based human rights group Fortify Rights in a report said that Rohingya armed groups killed at least 219 Rohingyas in the camps in Bangladesh in four years between 2021 and 2024 as killings.

An airstrike carried out by Myanmar`s military on a village controlled by anti-junta resistance fighters has resulted in the deaths of at least 12 individuals. The strike reportedly targeted civilian-populated areas.

Myanmar`s military government will hold a general election in December 2025 or January 2026, state media said on Saturday, citing the junta chief, who provided the first specific time frame for the long-promised polls in the war-torn nation.

China on Wednesday announced a 7.2 per cent hike in its annual defence budget to take it to over $245 billion.

The skies above the borders of India, Pakistan, and China have increasingly become a stage for high-tech conflicts, with drones playing a crucial role in surveillance and military operations. The use of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), many enhanced with artificial intelligence, has surged, raising security concerns in the region.

The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, has called for a swift political resolution in Myanmar to facilitate the safe return of the Rohingya refugees to their homeland.

Four years after overthrowing Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a 2021 coup, the military regime is intensifying efforts to legitimize its rule by advancing plans for a 2025 election. 

In 2024, China’s state-owned aerospace company Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), provided the Myanmar military with eight new aircraft, according to a report by Burma Campaign UK.

India and China have reached an agreement to resume direct air travel between the two countries after a gap of almost five years, according to a statement from India`s Ministry of External Affairs on Monday. This development marks a positive shift in relations between the two neighbors following heightened tensions over a deadly border clash in 2020.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on China and India to take meaningful steps to enhance mutual understanding and support. His remarks came during a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Beijing on Monday.

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) released a detailed report on Wednesday, exposing ongoing systematic persecution of the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The report comes five years after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) directed Myanmar to take measures to prevent genocide against the Rohingya population.

China and India are locked in a strategic competition over access to Myanmar’s Rakhine State, as the Arakan Army (AA) continues to expand its control over the crucial Bay of Bengal coastline.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a detailed video discussion on strengthening their bilateral relationship shortly after Donald Trump assumed office as the 47th President of the United States.

Southeast Asian nations have called on Myanmar`s military leadership to abandon its plans for elections and focus instead on ending the ongoing civil conflict in the country.