UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD missions to Cox’s Bazar with the objective of monitoring the deteriorating human rights situation in the northern Rakhine State. In the absence of a full-fledged field presence in Myanmar, OHCHR deployed a team of human rights officers to Bangkok and Cox’s Bazar. In South Asia, there was an outbreak of protests in Indian-Administered Kashmir, in mid-2016, which led to heightened levels of violence. Consequently, the High Commissioner requested access to the region from both India and Pakistan in order to make an independent assessment. As neither State permitted such access, OHCHR remotely monitored the human rights situation from both sides of the Line of Control. In June, OHCHR released a report of its findings regarding the excessive use of force leading to civilian killings and injuries, arbitrary detentions, effective legal impunity for security forces and violations of freedom of expression through extensive communications blackouts. Following the political crisis in Sri Lanka that lasted between October and December, OHCHR deployed a rapid response team to assess and monitor the human rights situations, particularly in the southern, eastern and northern parts of the country. The rapid response team provided necessary surge capacity to the Resident Coordinator’s Office to ensure that human rights were protected during the crisis. Throughout the year, OHCHR was also active in the Maldives. It engaged the Government to address human rights concerns during the state of emergency, in February, and leading up to the presidential elections, in September. Monitoring of the human rights environment was also conducted in the context of the presidential elections that were held in Bangladesh, in December. In Nepal, engagement with the international human rights mechanisms significantly 250 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD improved after nine years without country visits by any mandate holders. For instance, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants visited the country in January and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women visited in November. Nepal also participated in three treaty body reviews, CRPD, CERD and CEDAW. Civil society organizations were also active participants in the reviews. In the Northeast Asia region, OHCHR continued to explore entry points to strengthen its partnerships with authorities, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and civil society organizations, including in relation to the UPR follow-up. Common challenges that cut across the sub-region are related to deep-seated and multiple forms of discrimination that affect youth, women, persons with disabilities, the LGBTI community and other groups that are marginalized. In Mongolia, an agreement was reached with the UN Country Team (UNCT) to establish a post of a Human Rights Adviser that will assist the Government with its implementation of recommendations issued by the UPR. The Field-Based Structure in Seoul continued to monitor and document the human rights situation in the DPRK, including in the framework of the implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 34/24, which strengthened the capacity of OHCHR’s work on accountability for human rights violations in the DPRK. During 2018, the Office received information from a variety of sources alleging a deterioration in the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in the west of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Of particular concern were reports about the alleged establishment of “re-education” camps by the PRC Government in response to security concerns and in the context of countering potential terrorism and violent extremism. In June and September, the High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Chinese Government to ensure transparency in relation to its policies in the XUAR and to consider granting OHCHR unfettered access to the region. It also offered to provide technical assistance on protecting human rights in this context. OHCHR continued to engage bilaterally with the Chinese authorities in relation to these issues. The South-East Asia Regional Office worked closely with its partners at the regional and national levels, including governments, NHRIs, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), human rights defenders, activists and civil society. The Office strengthened and expanded its work on economic, social and cultural rights with a focus on land, business and human rights, climate change and human rights and the environment. Work was undertaken with UNCTs and Resident Coordinators in support of their efforts to mainstream a human rights-based approach to development and humanitarian action and to effectively address key human rights developments in the region. The Office continued to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and effective measures to address the ongoing shrinking of democratic space across the region. In addition, OHCHR began more focused work on early warning, prevention and emergency preparedness. Throughout the year, OHCHR supported the treaty body reviews of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. In November, Malaysia underwent its third UPR cycle. In April, the Working Group on business and human rights visited Thailand and addressed large-scale development programmes. In February, OHCHR supported the organization of the High Commissioner’s official mission to Indonesia. During the reporting period, there was an improvement in the engagement of the Pacific Island countries with the international human rights mechanisms. The Cook Islands, Fiji, the Marshall Islands and Samoa engaged in a constructive dialogue with CEDAW, whereas CRC reviewed the Marshall Islands, Palau and Solomon Islands. The Regional Office provided technical support to these countries on treaty body reporting. In addition, these countries increased their engagement with the special procedures. For instance, Fiji invited the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment for a country visit in December. Vanuatu accepted the visits of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples. As part of OHCHR’s global strategy to tackle climate change and mainstream human rights through climate action, the Regional Office continued working on climate change and justice using the human rights-based approach. OHCHR also engaged with Member States in the Pacific region to highlight the need for climate justice and provided input into the first National Adaptation Plan produced by the Government of Fiji. UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 251