Social development
Human rights
Asean rules for Mekong region urged as governments falter
Academics have suggested there should be an international Asean declaration to control and enforce good governance and the protection of human rights in the region. Thai Extra-Territorial Obligations Working Group and Chulalongkorn University held a forum yesterday to determine measures to develop good governance for ...
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
The data commons: What lies ahead for the Mekong region?
Open data access and sharing in the Mekong is spreading. Open data can increase public participation, aid greater transparency in government, and improve resource governance, city planning or public health monitoring. A number of initiatives, both private sector and civil society, are emerging. However, a ...
Mai Lan
Cambodia accused of 'killing off democracy' after opposition party dissolved by Supreme Court
Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 ...
Nicola Smith & Louise Burke
Southeast Asia is world's hotspot for land disputes: report
Businesses in Southeast Asia are increasingly counting the cost of land grabs, more than half of which result in delayed projects and nearly three-quarters of which lead to lawsuits, according to a wide-ranging research report. Out of a sample of 51 major land disputes surveyed across ...
Simon Roughneen
Myanmar govt to redistribute vacant land
The Myanmar government is developing a plan to redistribute vacant or fallow plots of land to rural landless people willing to farm the land.The Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr. Aung Thu told The Irrawaddy on Monday the government had obtained US$4.19 million ...
Htet Naing Zaw
UN chief calls Myanmar's Rohingya crisis 'catastrophic' as Security Council condemns violence
In a rare rebuke, the United Nations Security Council has “expressed deep concern” about the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where over 370,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee across the border to Bangladesh to escape increasing levels of violence.In a statement issued Wednesday, ...
Ray Sanchez, Ben Westcott, and Jamie Tarabay
Thai investors urged to focus on human rights abroad
Thai overseas investors have been urged to respect human rights wherever they are doing business and work closely with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Human rights were highlighted as a critical issue, as the NHRC has received 12 complaints about Thai investments in Myanmar, Laos, ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
Vietnam, Cambodia news agencies urged to promote cooperation
[] At a meeting with AKP Deputy General Director Keo Chandara in Hanoi on September 12, the Deputy PM said that the two agencies should actively work together to provide people of both sides with accurate news of the two countries and their sound relations. Keep ...
Vietnam Plus News Staff
U.S. rejects Cambodian accusations, calls for opposition leader's release
Washington’s ambassador to Cambodia on Tuesday rejected government accusations of interference by the United States as “inaccurate, misleading and baseless” and called for the release of detained opposition leader Kem Sokha. Keep reading ...
Prak Chan Thul
Control of information shifts up a gear in run-up to Cambodia election
Critics of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen have grown used to following upstart news service Fresh News to find out what the government’s next target might be.From treason accusations against detained opposition leader Kem Sokha to the tax demand against the now-shuttered Cambodia Daily to ...
Matthew Tostevin