Social development
Protest leader arrested in Mondolkiri after reoccupation attempt
An anti-eviction protester who police claim orchestrated several large-scale reoccupation attempts on a planned rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province was arrested on 11 July, police and a rights monitor said. About 500 families living on the land were evicted in 2012, three years after the Pacific ...
Lake waters, hope at low ebb in Battambang
For generations, Sokha’s family has lived in Bak Preah village on the Sangkae River – which passes through Battambang province and connects to the Tonle Sap lake about 70 kilometres away – depending almost solely on catching fish for their food and income. But with the ...
Govt to release census data on religion
Data from Myanmar’s 2014 census on the populations of the country’s religious groups will be released this month, a ministry spokesperson has announced. Myint Kyaing, the permanent secretary within the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, told The Irrawaddy on 12 July that the religious data will ...
For civil society, defiance in wake of Kem Ley's murder
Civil society on 11 July refused to be cowed by the Sunday morning murder of leading political commentator Kem Ley, with many saying that concerns for their own safety are now secondary to their determination not to be silenced. Seventy NGOs endorsed a statement condemning the ...
Three NDM members and Prachathai reporter held in Ratchaburi over ‘anti-charter’ leaflets
Four citizens including a reporter for Prachathai have been detained on charges of breaching a ban on campaigning against the charter draft after police searched their car and found leaflets with information against the draft. When the four were about to leave, police searched their ...
Media groups say charges against ‘Prachatai’ reporter should be dropped
Two media organisations on 11 July called on authorities to drop charges against a reporter accused of violating the ban on campaigning against the charter draft, insisting the reporter was merely performing his job and did nothing wrong. However, a National Council for Peace and ...
JICA provides grant for scholarships, bridge repair
The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Japan International Cooperation Agency on 8 July signed a grant agreement for two aid projects for Human Resource Development Scholarships from 2016 to 2020 and Reconstruction of Bridges on National Road No. 9, worth about 2.836 billion yen. The ...
As war of words drags on, government in Rakhine State opts for term ‘Rakhine ethnics’
A day after thousands of Buddhist nationalists staged protests across Rakhine State, the regional government issued a statement saying it would call the state’s Buddhist majority “Rakhine ethnics”, as controversy over terminology continues to simmer. The announcement yesterday said the state government would drop the phrase ...
Govt to meet again with armed Kokang groups
The government is planning to meet with the three armed ethnic groups from the Kokang region that had been excluded from last year’s so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement, according to government peace negotiator U Hla Maung Shwe. The three groups have been fighting the Tatmadaw since ...
Ongoing challenges in Kingdom's efforts to end domestic violence
Slow action from courts and police, a dire lack of mental health counselling and sparse government funding were named as ongoing challenges in Cambodia’s quest to eliminate violence against women at a conference on 4 July. Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi said that while ...
