Social development
Human rights
Asean: Prioritise rights of Rohingya
As ASEAN prepares for its 34th summit in Bangkok from Thursday to June 23, the heads of its member states must keep the Rohingya crisis at the top of their agenda. With the world’s largest refugee camp now sitting at the doorstep of Asean, the regional ...
Chinese media is misleading the public on the impacts of hydro in Laos
Last month, the New York Times ran a piece of propaganda and misinformation masquerading as news. The piece was entitled “Employment on Hydropower Project in Laos Delivers Better Lives,” and it was created and paid for by the China Daily, the English-language mouthpiece for the People’s Republic ...
Laos to give data to prevent Isan floods
Laos has agreed in principle to provide data and information about water resources and management plans involving the Mekong River directly to Thai authorities to assess the water situation and take action to prevent floods in eight northeastern provinces. Somkiat Prajamwong, secretary-general of the Office of ...
Joe’s View: On data fever in the Mekong Delta
On a trip down the Mekong Delta, Professor Joe McDonald’s thoughts turn to the potentially serious disease that is data fever – and how it might be prevented. Rowing down the tiny stream through the impenetrable jungle of the Mekong Delta, it’s 39 degrees in the ...
Cambodia: Holding a Media Summit Without Media Freedom
Holding an Asian media meeting in Cambodia makes a mockery of freedom of expression and press freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. Cambodia will host the 16th Asia Media Summit from June 10-14, 2019 in Siem Reap. Summit participants should publicly call for an end to Cambodian ...
Vietnamese Environmental Activist Gets 6 Years for Facebook Posts
A detained Vietnamese shrimp farmer and environmental activist was sentenced to six years in prison and five years’ probation Wednesday for writing politically charged posts on Facebook. Nguyen Ngoc Anh had been arrested on August 30, 2018 in Ben Tre province on charges of making, storing, ...
Journalist killings, arrests and assaults climb worldwide as authoritarianism spreads
Myanmar, nudged by the conscience of the world, recently released two Reuters journalists imprisoned for more than 500 days – good news in what otherwise has been a dismal period for media freedom. The 2019 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence ...
Reuters journalists in Myanmar freed but press freedom and rule of law still in jeopardy
Reuters reporters U Wa Lone and U Kyaw Soe Oo were recently released from prison in Myanmar. They spent 16 months behind bars on charges related to their reporting on the Inn Din massacre of Rohingya civilians in September 2017. Their imprisonment and the Myanmar courts’ repeated rulings against their appeals ...
Skylar Lindsay
Myanmar’s future journalists confront the meaning of freedom of expression (Part I)
Marie Puyessegur explores events in part one of a three-part series conducted as part of the MEMORY! Heritage Film Festival, an annual event in Yangon. The festival’s 2018 edition focused on the theme of Freedom of the Press and Democracy in their representation through cinema, and was ...
Marie Puysségur
Cambodia, Thailand sign human trafficking MoU
Cambodia and Thailand yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening the management of the repatriation and reintegration of human trafficking victims. The MoU was signed on behalf of the Cambodian government by Nhek Vannara, a Social Affairs Ministry secretary of state, who led a delegation ...
