Human rights
Civil and political rights
EU pressure effective?
In recent years, communities displaced by sugar plantations have attempted to reclaim their land by targeting the plantations’ investors and buyers overseas, but a study published last week in the peer-reviewed Journal of Civil Society suggests such efforts may disappoint. Author Young Sokphea notes that ...
Reporter killed in Sagaing Division
The Monywa Central Police Station has confirmed that local reporter Ko Soe Moe Tun of Eleven Media Group was beaten to death with a wooden stick, his body discovered early Tuesday morning. Ko Soe Moe Tun, 36, a Monywa-based EMG journalist was found dead and ...
European Union, CARE support nutrition project in Northern provinces
The European Union and CARE Denmark are providing over 2 million euro to support food and nutrition security projects in Luang Namtha and Phongsaly provinces. The four-year project on promoting agricultural production to improve food and nutrition security through multi-sector coordination were signed by CARE ...
Lese majeste suspects 'bottled up in Laos'
A number of suspected lese majeste offenders are holed up in Laos and police will work with public prosecutors and Interpol to track them down, the national police chief says. Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said the Thai and Lao governments have discussed the matter and ...
The 5 worst places to be an internet user in Southeast Asia
The power of the internet has been in the spotlight in the last few weeks thanks to the U.S. election – but while American netizens have to contend with fake news and annoying status updates, in many parts of the world just sharing an opinion can ...
Yangon govt to offer low-cost housing to ‘real’ squatters
The Yangon Region government is in the process of arranging low-cost housing for “real squatters” in the commercial capital, Yangon’s security and border affairs minister told the regional legislature on November 16. He was responding to a question from lawmaker U Kyaw Zeya (NLD; Dagon ...
Report: prison reforms must respect human rights
Prison reforms currently being considered in Myanmar fall short of meeting international human rights standards, Amnesty International said on November 10. New draft prison legislation represents a significant improvement on laws currently in effect that are more than a century old, but it still fails to ...
Govt, int'l organisations discuss SDG strategies
The government and international organisations with a presence in Laos have held a pre-consultation on the Sustainable Development Goals in preparation for the 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting to be held from November 24-25 in Vientiane province. The 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting SDG Pre-consultation took ...
UN backs local OHCHR office in dispute
The United Nations is standing behind Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights country representative Wan-Hea Lee after a letter signed by Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon accused her of failing to respect Cambodia’s sovereignty. Sokhon had taken umbrage at Lee’s public request for an ...
Minister slams UN rep over alleged ‘prejudice’
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon slammed UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights country representative Wan-Hea Lee for alleged “prejudice” in a two-page missive released on November 4. The letter was sent to UN Development Project resident representative Claire Van der Vaeren, blasting Wan-Hea ...
