Social development

Myanmar’s Muslim minority make up about 5 percent of the country’s predominantly Buddhist population and Muslims living in the delta rely heavily on the slaughterhouse business and the beef trade. Now Muslim businesses have become the target of anti-Islamic sentiment propagated by radical Buddhists who have found ...

Ohanaeze Ndigbo (one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria) living in the Mekong River area of South East Asia, comprising Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China recently converged on Bangkok, Thailand where they deliberated on issues of common interest and how they would ...

Vietnam is “ready to receive” the more than 200 Montagnards currently seeking asylum in Cambodia who face forced repatriation if they do not return within three months, according to the UN refugee agency. Vivian Tan, a regional spokesperson for UNHCR, said the Vietnamese government had given ...

Thailand’s junta has detained a senior newspaper reporter and columnist, his paper says, the latest in a string of arrests targeting those who speak out against the government. Thepchai Yong, the editor-in-chief of the English-language Nation, said “there is no justification whatsoever” for Pravit Rojanaphruk’s detention. Keep ...

Lao authorities have failed to properly account for the disappearance almost three years ago of civil society activist Sombath Somphone, who was last seen in police custody at a checkpoint in the capital Vientiane, and must commit themselves to a “real and renewed” effort to ...

Over 100 election hopefuls – mostly minority candidates – were knocked out of the running in the Union Election Commission’s final list, with citizenship status by far the most common stumbling block. The final list was short 124 rejected candidates, according to the commission’s announcement on ...

The Lao government’s changes to regulations on domestic nonprofit associations will hinder the work of the groups and slow down development projects in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, an NGO official said 11 September. Keep reading ...

Local authorities in two villages in a central Lao province have violated the rights of Christians by threatening to jail those who continue to practice their religion after banning their activities last month, a source inside the country said.   Authorities from the villages of Nhang ...

Provincial officials have 30 days to complete the inspection of rice stored at 1,800 warehouses nationwide under a deadline set by the National Rice Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Keep reading ...

Renewed fighting in Shan State is reported to have claimed at least 10 lives even as the government and leaders of armed ethnic groups met in Nay Pyi Taw in their latest attempt to hammer out a nationwide ceasefire accord. Representatives of armed ethnic groups warned ...