Social development
Human rights
ASEAN legislators 'alarmed by Cambodia crackdown'
Members of parliament from ASEAN countries have expressed grave concerns over the “worsening human rights situation in Cambodia” which has seen authorities continue to crack down on independent media outlets and civil society organizations.Keep reading ...
Bagus Saragih
Criminal Defamation Case Against British BBC Journalist Withdrawn
A lawyer has withdrawn a criminal defamation case against a British BBC journalist involving a report on foreigners being defrauded of property, the BBC reports. The case against Jonathan Head, BBC’s Southeast Asia correspondent, began Wednesday. “The plaintiff has withdrawn his case against BBC journalist ...
Vietnam looks to bolster its internet censorship
Following the recent intensification of his country’s crackdown on political dissent, Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang has argued for the need to develop a more robust internet censorship regime in an article published to a state media website. Quang said enemies of the state had ...
HydroCalculator: new, free, online tool helps citizens assess dams
Mega-dam construction is booming around the world, with promoters hyping hydropower as a green, renewable source of energy and a means of curbing climate change. But as these dams are built in the Amazon, Mekong and elsewhere, they’re doing great environmental and social damage and ...
Indonesia and Thailand charting clear maritime boundaries
Indonesia and Thailand are embarking on what could be a long and tedious negotiation process to determine the border of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) between the two countries in the Andaman Sea. Read more ...
Laos, Australia renew cooperation on human rights
Laos and Australia have agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation on human rights via a new four-year programme. The second phase of Australia’s Human Rights Technical Cooperation Programme (HRTCP) will be implemented by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Treaties and Law Department of Ministry ...
UNHCR chief pleased with discussions on refugee rights issues
The eradication of forced refugee detention, the granting of citizenship to stateless people, and the respectful deportation of asylum seekers are among goals that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects to develop further with Thailand.Read more ...
Regime aims to tighten media control, surveillance
The junta’s National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) has given the green light to media reform proposals which will tighten control over online media and surveillance.On 3 July 2017, the NRSA voted 144-1 in favour of the report compiled by its social media reform subcommittee. Keep reading ...
Regulatory loophole for OTT
Facebook and Google’s YouTube could miss the July 22 deadline to register under the over-the-top (OTT) regulatory framework, but advertising agencies and spenders can avoid violating OTT regulations by using overseas servers, media analysts say.Keep reading ...
Women left out of talks after evictions: report
While women are at the frontline of land-use protests, they are underrepresented in post-eviction negotiation processes, a new research paper shows.The study, entitled Gendered eviction, protest and recovery: a feminist political ecology engagement with land grabbing in rural Cambodia and published last week in the ...