Human rights

The ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples’ Forum which is to take place on 2 August in Dili, Timor-Leste appears to be clouded by uncertainty and fears. Concerns have emerged as there have been no indications that the three-day meeting, as stated during preparatory events in March and ...

Vietnam held a ceremony was held in the northern border province of Lao Cai on July 30, aiming to raise public awareness of the importance of human trafficking prevention and control. Speaking at the event, President of the Vietnamese Women’s Union Nguyen Thi Thu Ha said ...

Parliamentarians criticised the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission on 28 July, while discussing a report, about the commission’s work over the last year. The commission has been working to get human rights curriculums in primary schools and law schools across the country. Amyotha Hluttaw MP U ...

In 2007, the 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations celebrated the adoption of the Asean Charter that for the first time in the region’s history includes human rights as one of its principles and objectives. The charter seeks to implement a human ...

The Thai Board of Investment Seoul Office held a seminar in mid-July to promote the country’s rising digital economy and attract investors and specialists. The venue titled “Thailand: Moving forward to digital economy” gave an overview of developments in the second largest economy in Southeast ...

The managers of some of Cambodia’s most controversial agribusiness plantations on 21 July blamed their many land disputes on the government, accusing officials of failing to educate communities about the benefits of their giant farms. Rights groups blame economic land concessions for some of Cambodia’s worst problems, ...

The aid community often ignores the wishes of the very people it’s supposed to be helping. The world needs a more bottom-up approach to development. Almost a year ago, the United Nations set the Sustainable Development Goals, an ambitious blueprint for governments and financiers to ...

According to the figures publicly launched by the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, on 21 July in the capital Naypyidaw, Buddhists constitute 87.9 percent of the country, Christians make up 6.2 percent, Muslims comprise 4.3 percent, animists are counted at 0.8 percent and Hindus are ...

The International Organisation for Migration and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare will cooperate in the war on human trafficking in Laos after signing a project agreement in Vientiane on 18 July between the IOM Head of Office Mr Damien Kilner and the ministry’s Director General ...

Two international advocacy organisations have slammed the new Myanmar government for failing to address fundamental human rights shortcomings in its first 100 days in office, echoing recent criticism from the international community. In a joint statement, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Alternative ...