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The Asian figures—up from 25 in 2008 —were driven up by the massacre of 32 journalists in the Philippines in November, the Vienna-based IPI said. Elsewhere in Asia, eight journalists were killed in Pakistan, where a military offensive has sparked an upsurge in violence. Three journalists died in Afghanistan—a reporter for a Canadian newspaper and two Afghan journalists.

Violence against Rohingya Claimed

Thousands of Muslim refugees from Burma face beatings and forced repatriation to their homeland by authorities in Bangladesh, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) said. The majority of Rohingya in Bangladesh reside in the overcrowded Cox’s Bazar area bordering Burma. Since October 2009, more than 6,000 people have arrived at a makeshift camp. MSF says that 28,000 refugees live in official camps under United Nations supervision and are recognized as refugees by Bangladesh. But an estimated 220,000 others have no refugee status. Bangladeshi authorities have dismissed earlier accusations of a crackdown. Sakhawat Hossain, a senior police official, told AP news agency that authorities were conducting normal operations to detain foreigners who illegally entered the country.