News
Rohingya refugee voices amplify across Southeast Asia
The 2017 Rohingya humanitarian crisis caused by Myanmar is not only affecting Bangladesh, which has taken in 740,000 refugees, but it’s also causing strife in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Despite Myanmar’s alleged attempts at repatriation, Rohingya have stayed put in camps and cities fearing the security ...
ADAM BEMMA
Rakhine Internet Shutdown Makes Relief Efforts More Difficult, Refugees And Aid Workers Say
The cutoff of internet service to conflict-affected areas of western Myanmar’s war-torn Rakhine and Chin states has created a difficult situation for civilians who cannot access donors online to make aid requests, though the state government said it will step in to fill the void ...
EIA exposed – the campaign against Myanmar’s teak trade accused of making false allegations against innocent timber trader
A London-based campaign group which achieved international headlines by alleging massive corruption in Myanmar’s timber industry now stands accused of getting its facts wrong. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) claimed in its report State of Corruption: the top-level conspiracy behind the global trade in Myanmar’s stolen ...
US joins calls for Myanmar to end internet shutdown
Myanmar is facing increasing pressure to immediately end a mobile internet blackout in parts of two of its states, with the United States becoming the latest to call for the lifting of the data restrictions. Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications on June 21 ordered mobile phone operators to shut down ...
Myanmar launches first solar power plant
The Minbo Solar Power Plant project, hailed as a triumph by some Myanmar people and the Thai investors who supported this first phase, was celebrated with an opening ceremony on Thursday. The plant is Myanmar’s first renewable energy and solar power project, and viewed by many ...
World Bank Puts Myanmar’s Power Investment Needs at $2B a Year
To sustain economic growth, Myanmar needs to invest up to US$2 billion (3.06 trillion kyats) annually in its electricity sector, according to a World Bank report released on Tuesday. In the report, “Myanmar Economic Monitor: Building Reform Momentum”, the World Bank said Myanmar’s economic growth is ...
Kokko Chinatown project sparks concerns in Tak
Border towns are often labelled as remote villages without modern infrastructure or amenities. However, recent economic policies such as the development of special economic zones and foreign investment have led to the urbanisation of these rural areas. A clear example of this can be seen in Mae ...
Assawin Pinitwong
Bagan deserves better
Foreign investors should distance themselves from hotel projects being developed around the ancient temples of Bagan in apparent violation of planning rules. It now seems likely that the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization will approve Myanmar’s application to have Bagan ...
Building Cohesive Societies: Southeast Asian States Take On Gargantuan Challenge – Analysis
Several Southeast Asian governments and social movements are seeking to counter mounting polarization and inter-communal strife across the globe fuelled by the rise of civilizationalist leaders who think in exclusionary rather than inclusionary terms. In the most high-brow of various initiatives, King Abdullah of Jordan is ...
James M. Dorsey
Expanding paternity leave in Southeast Asia
Statutory rights to maternity leave are available to working women in 185 countries, but only 78 offer statutory rights to paternity leave. Nordic countries set the global benchmark for policies that support men’s involvement in parenting, but paternity leave is fast becoming a hot topic ...
Marian Baird, Elizabeth Hill and Lisa Gulesserian
