Human rights

Many local farmers in Laos’s Phongsaly province are shifting to plant cardamom, after earning lucrative income from growing this crop and selling it to Chinese traders. Some families earned as much as 40 million kip per year from growing cardamom, which enabled them to send their ...

Ethnic Shan communities in northern Shan State have called for an end to four planned hydropower dams on the Namtu River, an Irrawaddy tributary, citing irreparable damage to the environment. More than 100 people gathered in Hsipaw Township to hold a prayer service on the bank ...

The government has granted itself pervasive snooping powers to effectively monitor all electronic communication and punish anything deemed to have caused “national insecurity”, a legal analysis of the recently passed telecommunications law has warned. In a briefing paper released on 31 March, rights group Licadho ...

The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia on 27 March promised villagers in Stung Treng province who are set to be displaced by the construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam for the massive energy project that she would raise their plight with the ...

With the threat of eviction hanging over businesses on Sihanoukville’s O’Chheuteal and O’Tres beaches, land rights advocates congregated in Phnom Penh this week to give voice to thousands of families locked in land disputes with powerful firms turning swaths of coastline into tourism destinations. Keep reading   ...

A coalition of villagers in long-running land disputes with development companies along Cambodia’s coastline from Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep provinces held a press conference in Phnom Penh on 21 March calling for authorities to resolve their cases. Keep reading ...

The eviction of businesses along Sihanoukville’s popular O’Chheuteal Beach will begin as early as Monday, after the provincial governor returns from a trip abroad, an official said on 17 March. Last month, the owners of bars, restaurant and guesthouses along O’Chheuteal and O’Tres beaches were informed ...

Myanmar’s United Nations-appointed human rights investigator has given the new government a 100-day challenge. The task list – starting from its first day in office next month – includes lifting restrictions on freedom of movement in Rakhine State, meeting a 30 percent quota for women ...

Police in Hanoi have fined five people up to VND20 million (US$900) each for running Facebook pages that tell people how to avoid police officers. Keep reading ...

Police in Ratanakkiri province on 15 March ordered rights group Adhoc to call off a planned workshop meant to inform local indigenous communities of their rights, claiming the NGO had failed to secure the necessary permission from authorities. Keep reading ...