Human rights
Economic, social and cultural rights
Families back sugar land deal
Families in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel and Botum Sakor districts have agreed to accept land and $2,500 per family in a compromise with the Land Ministry to end their land dispute with sugar cane plantation companies. However, they have asked the ministry to speed ...
Vientiane gears up for an exciting Lao New Year
People nationwide are eagerly anticipating the Lao New Year (Pi Mai Lao) festival (Year of the Rooster) next week, with the official holiday taking place from April 14-16. Vientiane is preparing an exciting programme of activities for locals and visitors alike, including a Miss Vientiane ...
Joint panel discusses prior consultation process for Pakbaeng dam
Delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met on April 4 at the second meeting of the Joint Committee Working Group on the procedures for notification, prior consultation and agreement for the Pakbeng hydropower project. The Pakbaeng hydropower project is one of the five Mekong mainstream ...
NBTC must review decision to suspend Voice TV, say media bodies
Media associations on Tuesday called for the broadcast regulator to review its order to suspend Voice TV for seven days. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission on Monday suspended the digital channel’s licence over what was labelled repeated misconduct. In a joint statement signed by ...
Floating villages to be relocated
Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities have outlined plans to relocate thousands of families living on the Tonle Sap river in an effort to curb water pollution. Provincial governor Chhour Chan Dern said five floating villages in three different locations along a stretch of the river in his ...
UNDP presents human development report findings
Exclusion of women, people living in remote areas and ethnic groups creates chronic barriers for human development progress and leads to significant disparities within the Asia-Pacific region, leaving many behind, according to UNDP. This is one of the key findings of the Human Development Report ...
Families call for return of land
A group of 20 people representing 554 families locked in a 10-year land dispute yesterday submitted a petition asking the government to end the lengthy conflict. The families, from Samroang town in Oddar Meanchey province, want help from officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry ...
Villagers issue new calls to solve old land dispute
Villagers from Oddar Meanchey used a news conference on March 21 to appeal for government action to return land at the centre of a years-old dispute with sugar companies. The conflict erupted in 2008, when villagers were forcibly evicted from their land to allow Angkor Sugar, ...
Saving Vietnam's floating markets
Amid mighty rivers and dense mangroves, the busy floating markets in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have long shaped the delta’s well-known “water civilization.” As many as a dozen floating markets still remain along major waterways around the delta, where boats, houses, and markets float upon the ...
Dam blamed as dolphins vanish
The last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins have stopped coming to a stretch of the Mekong river in Preah Rumkel commune due to the Don Sahong hydropower dam in nearby Laos, locals have warned. The activists from Stung Treng province say the dam, which is less than ...
