Population and censuses

Asian leaders must address rising inequality in all aspects, aid agency Oxfam warned on 19 January, saying ignoring the issue would leave almost 500 million people trapped in poverty and threaten economic growth.   “Asia is now at a crossroads. It could continue with the existing policies ...

Overseas employment agencies, angry at “bullying” from the Malaysian government, have resolved to boycott the country. Agency chiefs say they will no longer send Myanmar migrant workers to Malaysia, as the recruitment industry has been monopolised by a newly instituted system that has changed the ...

A tenfold increase in visa fees has prompted employment agencies to consider boycotting Malaysia, long a favoured destination of Myanmar migrant workers. The threat, which could be backed up by demonstrations, followed an announcement by the Malaysian embassy to raise visa application costs from US$6 ...

More than 50 Vietnamese immigrants have been detained by Cambodia’s Interior Ministry’s immigration police following two recent raids, bringing the total number of people awaiting deportation for being in the country illegally to 73, according to an official. Keep reading ...

Entry into Myanmar by foreign visitors, including businesspeople, tourists and students, will get easier starting on 11 January. The Ministry of Immigration is now offering six new types of entry visa and three types of re-entry visa to international visitors effective 11 January. Keep reading ...

A bilateral Thai-Myanmar meeting to resolve issues relating to migrant workers in Thailand has ended inconclusively, as the Thai negotiators have referred all matters under discussion to Bangkok for a decision. The 8 and 9 January meeting in Yangon discussed the status of the 3 million ...

A migrant workers’ activist has called for greater support from the Myanmar government for workers overseas who, he said, faced “oppression” from foreign governments. The call came as Malaysian police arrested Myanmar demonstrators outside the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur on 7 January. The demonstrators were ...

Labour ministry officials from Thailand are due to resume talks on 8 January in Yangon with their Myanmar counterparts on the status of up to 3 million Myanmar migrant workers in the kingdom. If successful, the negotiations could lead to an agreement that would legalise the workers’ ...

Cambodian recruitment agencies are drawing up more extensive training programs for maids being sent to Malaysia following a lifting of a ban on the practice in December. However, it remains unclear by what standards the programs created by the agencies – many of which have been ...

After facing abuse and battery at the hands of their employer, Myanmar domestic workers in Singapore are confronted with a difficult choice: stay and press charges, in often lengthy investigations that rehash their pain, or return home and relinquish any opportunity for recompense. Ma Ei Phyu ...