Economic, social and cultural rights
Religious freedom
Refugee in Cambodia asks to return home
One of the first four refugees resettled in Cambodia under a deal with Australia has requested to return to his native Rakhine State – the latest controversy to smack the much-ridiculed refugee arrangement. “He has requested to give up his [refugee] status and return to his ...
Muslim candidates fear no shot at the polls
With the finalised candidate list expected to be released on 7 September, barred Muslim election hopefuls fear not a single one of them will be left to contend the looming polls, leaving no one to represent what many estimate is Myanmar’s largest religious minority. The Union ...
Christians arrested on charges of proselytizing
Two Christians were arrested by the police in the province of Khammouan, in the east of Laos, on charges of alleged proselytizing. The police broke into the house of a Christian in the village of Nong-hang, and arrested Bountheung Phetsomphone, 43, a Christian leader from another ...
Election commission rejects Muslim candidates en masse
Nineteen election candidates in northern Rakhine State have been barred from running by the district sub-election commission, which called into question their residency status and the citizenship of their parents. Applications were submitted by 378 potential candidates representing a range of political parties across five districts ...
New Muslim rebel front calls for revived talks with Thailand
A new umbrella group of Muslim rebels who are waging a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand called on 27 August for a resumption of stalled peace talks but it was unclear whether the Thai military junta would recognise them. Representatives of Mara Pattani, which claims to speak for ...
Six Montagnards seek refugee status in Cambodian capital
Six ethnic Montagnard Christians who fled Vietnam and illegally entered Cambodia to seek refugee status have arrived safely in the capital Phnom Penh, the provincial coordinator for Adhoc has said. The coordinator said the group fled Gia Lai province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands on 16 July and arrived ...
Myanmar bill limits women's right to wed non-Buddhists
Myanmar’s parliament has approved a law that would regulate marriages between Buddhist women and men from outside their religion. The move by legislators was condemned by activists and human rights groups, who said the law was passed under pressure from hardline Buddhist monks. The bill is one ...
