ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan faced one of the worst economic crises in its history in 2023 with poverty, inflation and unemployment soaring, jeopardising millions of people’s rights to health, food and an adequate standard of living, according to a report by the Human Rights Watch.

In its 740-page ‘World Report 2024’, made available on Friday, the HRW reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries, and observed that the insistence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on austerity and the removal of subsidies without adequate compensatory measures resulted in additional hardship for low-income groups in Pakistan.

The country remained exceedingly vulnerable to climate change and faced rates of warming considerably above the global average, making extreme climate events more frequent and intense, according to the report.

Increasing repression by governments in Asia is negatively affecting human rights locally and internationally, the HRW said. Asia, unlike Europe, Africa and the Americas, lacks a........

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