Social development
Human rights
‘What other country would do this to its people?’ Cambodian land grab victims seek int’l justice
“It started when some people from the government came around the community telling us that we were illegally occupying the land,” Chhae Kimsrour said in June 2020. “I’ve lived here since 1995, but six months later they came back and started filling in my lake. ...
GERALD FLYNN, PHOUNG VANTHA
Myanmar’s Women Are on the Front Lines Against the Junta
In recent weeks, Nandar has taken to cycling. Armed with a hard hat, a face mask, and a paper sign stuck to her bike showing the words “No to dictatorship, no to patriarchy,” the 26-year-old feminist activist spends most days traversing Yangon, Myanmar, as part ...
JESSIE LAU
Jailed Lao Activist Silenced by Government, but Continues to Inspire
Laos says women are now more respected and protected on International Women’s Day Monday, but the words might ring hollow to Houayheuang Xayabouly, who languishes in jail more than a year after her arrest for a Facebook post complaining about the communist government’s failure to ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action.
Authoritarianism in Laos is at the root of illegal land grabs, land grievances, and ongoing human rights violations. The upcoming elections in Laos are unlikely to change this. International business stakeholders, however, can do more to support local communities and uphold fundamental human rights. The Lao ...
Malaak Jamal and Jenny Wang
Myanmar Press Council Members Resign Over Military Directives
Half of Myanmar Press Council’s members resigned last week, saying they are unable to protect press freedom, uphold media ethics, or protect the safety of fellow journalists. The 15 resignations on the press council come in response to directives issued by Myanmar’s military to news outlets ...
Nyan Win Aung
Decree on Internet Controls in Cambodia Threat to Freedom of Expression: Journalists
A decree establishing a national internet gateway that can control and monitor online activity in Cambodia is likely to seriously restrict freedom of expression in the country, journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed an order to launch a National Internet Gateway—similar to ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Concern rises after Karen indigenous community returns to ancestral land
Concern continues to rise among civil society for the safety of members of the Bang Kloi Karen indigenous community who returned to their ancestral land at Chai Phaen Din in the Kaeng Krachan forest, after reports of a possible military operation to evacuate them from ...
Prachatai
National Human Rights Commission to remain Grade B for next 18 months
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) will remain in Grade B for the next 18 months because the current constitution deprives them of independence and obliges them to speak in defence of the government, says the Sub-Committee on Accredition (SCA). Its rank was lowered ...
Prachatai
Karen People Cut Off From Help in Myanmar After Fighting Drives Them From Their Homes
Around 1,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been cut off from help in Myanmar’s Kayin state by renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, with relief groups now unable to reach them with badly needed food, blankets, and medical supplies, sources say. Fighting between the Myanmar ...
Reported by Saw Nyunt Thaung for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Vietnam jails environmental activist for seven years
Vietnam has clamped down on freedom of expression ahead of a Communist Party congress by imposing a harsh jail sentence on an environmental activist and blogger for an anti-state campaign. On Jan. 20, the People’s Court of Hau Giang province in the southern Mekong Delta sentenced Dinh ...
UCA News reporter, Ho Chi Minh City
