Social development
Human rights
In Vietnamese floating villages, a precarious life
For the thousand or so ethnic Vietnamese families who have lived and fished for years in the floating villages along the Tonle Sap river in Cambodia’s Kompong Chhnang province, the insecurity of their lives here was made clear last week. Evicted from moorings in the center ...
Single gateway jitters in Thailand
With the Thai government exploring the pros and cons of initiating a single international gateway (single gateway), uncertainty is being felt in the country’s growing tech industry and e-commerce sector. The cabinet ordered relevant state agencies to report legal complications concerning the deployment of a single ...
A countdown to refoulement
The planned upcoming deportation of Montagnard asylum seekers back to Vietnam will include 13 already recognised as refugees in March unless the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) can find a third country to resettle them, the UNHCR and a refugee advocate ...
Wife of jailed Lao activist asks Poland’s justice ministry for help with extradition
The wife of a jailed Polish citizen of Lao heritage has asked Poland’s justice ministry to request the Lao government to transfer her husband from a detention center in the Southwestern Asian nation to one in his European home country. Barbara Paklak-Thammavong told RFA’s Laos Service ...
Group of Montagnards heads back to Vietnam
Twenty-four Montagnards are set to return to Vietnam on 8 October, becoming the first group to volunteer for repatriation since the government last month ordered the asylum seekers to leave of their own volition or be forcibly expelled, officials said. Keep reading ...
Another Areng Valley activist arrested
A prominent Areng Valley activist joined three other environmentalists in jail on 7 October in Koh Kong after being questioned at the provincial court about alleged “forest crimes”. Ven Vorn, 36, a community representative and commune councillor with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, was arrested at the ...
Compensation for Yangon-Dala bridge to be paid this month
In an apparent effort to ensure good relations with local residents and avoid the problems that have dogged other development projects, local authorities have agreed to pay compensation in advance to people forced to move to make way for the Yangon-Dala Bridge. The committee set up ...
Police block marchers on World Habitat Day
More than 1,000 demonstrators from about 50 communities across the country gathered Monday to mark U.N. World Habitat Day and protest against widespread land and housing evictions, but found their march blocked by municipal authorities, who claimed the protesters posed a risk to security. Beginning the ...
Laos in the spotlight again over human rights
Human rights violations are again an issue in Laos – and a thorn in the side of a government more concerned with centrally-planned economic policies – following the death 61-year-old Tiang Kwentianthong. Tiang was originally arrested for praying for a sick woman without government approval. Reports ...
Thai Government warns netizen protesters
The government is threatening legal action against web activists who launched cyber attacks on state agency websites on Wednesday in a bid to derail the government’s proposal to restrict the flow of online information, causing sporadic disruptions of several government home pages. Keep reading ...