Download Six years into Nepal’s peace process, the rehabilitation of Maoist rebels reached a final stage this week.
Command over Maoist ex-combatants and their weapons were handed to the Nepal Army. The former fighters have been living in cantonments since the civil war ended.
It’s a milestone – but one major faction of the Maoist rebels opposes the move.
Results from the final regrouping – in which former fighters choose between the military or decide to return to civilian life - shows that less than 4,000 ex-combatants will join the Nepal Army.
Influential Burmese monk refuses to be silenced: Burma has recently been thrust into the international spotlight. Following the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy in the April by-election and Aung San Suu Kyi finally taking a seat in parliament – Burma is being hailed as Asia’s newest democracy. But the government continues to limit the public, and sometimes political, activities of Burma’s Buddhist monks. Prominent monk Ashin Pyinnyar Thiha is banned from giving any speeches and was recently evicted from his monastery in Rangoon. Citra Dyah Prastuti travels to Hmaw-Bi Township on the outskirts of Rangoon to meet him.
Single Mothers Fight Prejudice in South Korea: In many parts of the world, May is the month for mothers. But in South Korea, there’s also a special day for single mothers, unwed women who raise their children solo. Being a single mom is tough – but in South Korea it brings shame upon the entire family. Many children born out of wedlock are kept secret and adopted overseas. But the adoptees are now returning home to find their birth mothers and are working to curb the prejudice single mothers still face. Jason Strother has the story from Seoul.
