Economic, social and cultural rights
Religious freedom
Buddhism in Southeast Asia: a Catalyst for Civic Exchange
On 13 November, Buddhist leaders from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia met in Vientiane, the capital of Laos,to “strengthen co-operation between the three countries’ Buddhist organizations and promote and develop Lao Buddhism [both] in the region and internationally.” This meeting, attended by over 500 monastics, was called ...
Refugees’ citizenship demands ‘impossible’: Myanmar govt
Administrators in northern Rakhine State say it would be “impossible” for the government to agree to Rohingya refugees’ citizenship demands, in a further sign that Rohingya repatriation is likely to proceed slowly – if at all. Repatriation of up to 2,200 verified refugees from Bangladesh ...
Atrocities against Rohingyas: Asean ministers for prosecuting the culprits
Southeast Asian foreign ministers have urged Myanmar to prosecute those responsible for the brutal military crackdown on Rohingyas and give full mandate to an inquiry commission to hold accountable those responsible for the violence in Rakhine. Keep reading ...
Why the UN has a genocide case on Myanmar
Even after taking part in past United Nations human rights investigations in Sri Lanka and North Korea, nothing quite prepared former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman for the harrowing stories of the Myanmar Army’s bloody 2017 rampage that killed more than 10,000 Rohingya Muslims and ...
Religious freedom violations in Asia increasing – UN Rapporteur
Religious freedoms in Asia are “eroding”, with an increase in religious fundamentalism across much of the continent, according to UN Religious Freedom rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed. Shaheed spoke during an event, hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand’s capital Bangkok, on the back of the 4th Southeast ...
Myanmar panel probing Rohingya crisis pledges independence
Members of a commission established by Myanmar’s government to investigate human rights violations in western Rakhine state, where 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority fled brutal army operations, addressed critics Thursday with a pledge to be impartial. Keep reading ...
Myanmar Dismisses Rohingya-Crisis General Amid EU Sanctions
Myanmar’s military announced the ouster of a key general Monday as the European Union sanctioned him and six other senior officers in connection with alleged massacres and the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya last year. Keep reading ...
Myanmar Military Targets Other Ethnic Groups After Driving Rohingya Out
Myanmar’s military, fresh off a bloody campaign that drove most of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority into neighboring Bangladesh, has launched a new offensive against the armed forces of an ethnic group along the northern border with China using helicopter gunships, jet fighters and heavy ...
Ganga initiative brings culture into new Asian trade routes
A recent conference at Thammasat University in Bangkok brought together Indian and Southeast Asian scholars to discuss re-building cultural links along two major rivers in Asia – the Ganges and the Mekong – that in ancient times provided transport links to build great civilizations influenced ...
Kalinga Seneviratne
Boat with 70 Rohingya Muslims leaves Myanmar for Malaysia: sources
A boat carrying 70 Rohingya Muslims set out for Malaysia from Myanmar this week, two sources and a rights group said, the latest to embark on a dangerous sea journey. The vessel will be the second to arrive in Malaysia this month as the Rohingya ...
A. Ananthalakshmi
