Social development
Human rights
INGOs Discourage Repatriation for their Own Interests: Gov’t Spokesperson
The Myanmar government’s spokesperson U Zaw Htay has accused international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) of deliberately discouraging refugees in Bangladesh from returning to Myanmar due to their own business interests. Speaking at the government’s press conference on Friday, U Zaw Htay, also director-general of the President’s ...
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 ...
Myanmar: EU mission assesses human rights and labour rights situation
A monitoring mission of experts from the European Commission and the European External Action Service visited Myanmar from 28 to 31 October. This follows deeply worrying developments highlighted in various United Nations reports, in particular as regards human rights violations in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan ...
Vietnam cyber law set for tough enforcement despite Google, Facebook pleas
Vietnam is preparing to strictly enforce a new cybersecurity law requiring global technology companies to set up local offices and store data locally despite pleas from Facebook, Google and other firms, a government document showed. Keep reading ...
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 ...
Vietnam detains senior official for global rights group
A senior executive for an international human rights group was detained by Vietnamese authorities on Sunday as she arrived in the capital to attend a World Economic Forum meeting and is expected to be deported. Debbie Stothard, secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights, ...
Rohingya exodus: 132 Asean MPs seek probe
More than 130 Members of Parliament from Asean nations, including two from Singapore, have demanded that Myanmar be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the most united condemnation from the region since the violence began against the Rohingya a year ago. In a joint statement ...
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 Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo await verdict
Two Reuters journalists who documented a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are due to hear whether they will be jailed for violating a state secrets act. Keep reading ...
