Social development
Human rights
PM to discuss return of refugees with Suu Kyi
The repatriation of more than 100,000 Myanmar refugees, who have been sheltered in nine camps in four border provinces from Mae Hong Son in the North to Ratchaburi province for decades, will be discussed when Aung San Suu Kyi meets Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on ...
Myanmar will be ready to take back refugees soon, source claims
Myanmar will soon be ready to take back over 100,000 refugees from nine shelters in Thailand, as the country moves towards democracy, an informed source claimed on 20 June. Details were revealed during the launch of a “World Refugee Day” event at Ban Umpiem Mai shelter ...
Damming the Nam Tha in Northern Laos
The Nam Tha, or Tha River, begins in northern Laos near the Lao-China border and runs southwest to join the Mekong just south of Huay Xay on the Lao-Thai border. In October 2014, I traveled by motorcycle and longtail boat up the Nam Tha, starting ...
Early pregnancies still an issue in Laos
Difficulties accessing information about methods to prevent early pregnancies among young people means that there are still many unwanted pregnancies and high death rates among young mothers and their children. Access to information and health services is limited among young people in the country, particularly for ...
Censorship harms Myanmar’s chance for reconciliation
The Human Rights Human Dignity film festival could not screen its opening film Twilight over Myanmar: My Life as a Shan Princess in Yangon this week. Myanmar’s film censorship board banned the film because it could allegedly tarnish the image of the Myanmar Army and harm ethnic ...
Vietnam, Cambodia agree to push forwards bilateral ties
Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to continue their mutual support and close collaboration in order to strengthen the “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation” between the two countries, thus bringing pragmatic interests to their people. President Tran Dai Quang noted his hope ...
Sugar company's compensation deals leave families bitter in Kampong Speu
In 2010, more than 1,500 families in Kampong Speu’s Oral district were evicted from the land they had cultivated since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 to make way for a Phnom Penh Sugar Company mega-plantation. Bunsak, head of the Cambodian Human Rights ...
Montagnards wary as deportation rumours circulate
On 14 June, at about 11:30am, several officers from the refugee department visited Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district to photograph and take names of some of those residing at a guesthouse where about 100 Montagnards have been staying with support from the UN refugee ...
Facebook racks up 10m Myanmar users
The world’s most popular social network, Facebook, has made millions of new “friends” in Myanmar over the last few years. In that time, the site has played the part of nationwide news outlet, emergency relief coordinator and community water cooler – but it has also provided ...
Amid turmoil, EU calls for review of aid to Cambodia
The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution accusing the Cambodian government of laying politically motivated charges against the opposition and calling for aid cuts if its respect for human rights fails to improve—a loud echo of a resolution it passed just six months ago. “Today, ...