Social development
Human rights
China says 2 activists sent back by Thailand now detained
The Chinese government confirmed it has repatriated and detained two dissidents who were living in Thailand and had won UN recognition as refugees, a state-run newspaper reported 26 November. Thai police handed over the two Chinese men — Jiang Yefei and Dong Guanping — to Chinese ...
Human rights envoy warns of ‘dangerous tipping point’ in Cambodia
The renewed tensions between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party threaten to push Cambodia towards a “dangerous tipping point” if not resolved, the UN’s human rights envoy has said. Her words came as CNRP president Sam Rainsy, a warrant issued for ...
Publisher, four others jailed over calendar
A Muslim publisher and four others have been detained in Insein Prison for attempting to produce a calendar containing quotes from government officials in the 1950s and 1960s using the term “Rohingya”. The calendar contains quotes from speeches by former prime minister U Nu and other ...
17 Montagnards prepare for return to Vietnam
More Montagnard asylum seekers prepared to return to Vietnam on 23 November after giving up on obtaining refugee status in Phnom Penh, while five Rohingya refugees set off for resettlement in Canada. Wan-Hea Lee, country representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human ...
Lecturers tell NCPO: Stop threats to academics and students
A group of lecturers on 23 November called on the junta to stop threatening academics and students expressing political views. The group, gathered under the network of lecturers concerned for detained students, submitted a letter to chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Prayut ...
Government spokesman rejects calls for Rohingya citizenship
A spokesperson for President Thein Sein took to social media on 21 November to reject recommendations that Rohingya Muslims be granted a path to citizenship. The minister’s comments were made in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, a comprehensive human rights examination comprising recommendations from ...
Civil society organisations to hold rally on 10 December
Civil society groups, unions, monks and activists are planning a thousands-strong march in Phnom Penh to deliver petitions to the National Assembly and Ministry of Justice to mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December. Keep reading ...
UN rights body decries Thai deportations to China
The United Nations on 20 November slammed Thailand’s deportation of two Chinese refugees, and Vietnam’s reported transfer of nine North Korean nationals to China, warning they were at risk of “grave human rights violations”. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human ...
Dozens of Phnom Penh's homeless sent to Prey Speu
Just weeks after reports emerged of more fatalities from Phnom Penh’s Prey Speu social affairs centre and ensuing promises of reform, authorities yesterday rounded up dozens more homeless people and detained them at the notorious facility. Kim Vutha, Daun Penh district’s chief of security, said 61 ...
Thailand believed to have deported 2 Chinese activists
The UN refugee agency criticised Thailand on 17 November for deporting two refugees who were about to be resettled in a third country. Rights groups identified the two as Chinese pro-democracy activists, although the Bangkok office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees did not give their ...
