How Myanmar and Its Neighbors Are Responding to the Rohingya Crisis

Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Since 2012, Myanmar has placed more than 100,000 members of the Rohingya minority in camps like this one in Rakhine State. Myanmar considers them illegal immigrants, though in many cases their families have lived in the country for generations.

Myanmar and its neighbors see the Rohingya group and the seaborne trafficking of migrants in the region very differently, complicating the refugees’ plight. Here is a rundown of their policy stances so far: (

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/13/world/asia/15rohingya-explainer.html

In The Name Of Politics: victims of petrol bomb

Turjoy Chowdhury

Turjoy Chowdhury

It has become a culture and tradition of politics in Bangladesh. Continuous strike, blockade, extreme violence most importantly making the very general public the worst victims are the regular expressions of political protests. The “Golden Bangla” has converted to “The Burning Bangladesh”. In the name of politics, playing with thousands of innocent lives has become the ultimate fate of the long cherished ‘Democracy’.

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Turjoy Chowdhury

At least 76 people have been killed and 225 people have been burnt in petrol bomb attacks across the country during political blockade started from January, 2015. Read more at:

http://jpgmag.com/stories/19937

Turjoy Chowdhury is a freelance documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Find more of his work at: http://turjoychowdhury.wordpress.com

 

Inside the world of surrogacy in India

suzanne1

Suzanne Lee

When Dr. Nayana Patel arrives to her clinic in the mornings, the lobby is full of women. Some wear brightly coloured saris, others are in western dress. They are either desperately seeking a baby or hoping to lift themselves out of poverty and offer their own children a better life. Beginning with a few surrogacies in 2003, Patel’s Akanksha clinic in the industrial state of Gujarat now delivers over 100 surrogate babies a year.

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Commercial surrogacy remains controversial and is banned in many countries. But in, a socially conservative society, surrogacy has thrived since the supreme high-court legalised the practice in 2002. A report by the Confederation of Indian Industry estimates the practice will generate $2.3 billion a year by 2012. Read more at

https://maptia.com/suzannelee/stories/surrogacy-in-india-the-cradle-of-the-world

 
Story Told By Suzanne Lee
Suzanne Lee is a professional documentary photographer and videographer living between India and Malaysia while working on photography and multimedia projects across Asia.

www.suzannelee.com

 

Philippe Schneider – Where We Live Matters

Philippe Schneider

Philippe Schneider

In 2007, for the first time in history, the world’s population was more urban than rural. At the same time, one out of three city dwellers – one billion people around the world – lives in a slum. Where we live matters. Our place of residence determines if we have access to basic rights and services, if we are employable, even if we are fully human in the eyes of the society.

Where we live matters focuses on the residents of the Paga Hill slum, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. On 12 May 2012, some one hundred police officers armed with assault rifles and machetes descended on the slopes of the Paga Hill to demolish the slum and drive out its residents. This forced eviction was carried out to make room for Paga Hill Estates, an exclusive residential development project that would overlook the waters of the scenic Port Moresby bay.

Philippe-Schneider

Philippe-Schneider

I started this project to challenge the viewer’s perception of slum dwellers and to highlight the critical truth that, in whatever conditions people live, they all have the same basic needs, hopes and fears. I wanted to expose human faces of the Paga Hill slum residents, showing their personal stories rather than leaving them relegated to statistics, stigma and prejudice.

Philippe Schneider – born in France in May, 1967. After dabbling in student activism whilst completing a Bachelor of Arts and Communication at university, Philippe found his calling as a Humanitarian Aid Worker. He has been exposed to the spectrum of human existence whilst working in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Darfur. Philippe believes that the commentary of human experience can ideally be shared through the medium of photography and strives to create work that informs the social conscience.
www.fotovisura.com/user/schneiderphil