Social development

In late January, Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen, made a televised statement about the spread of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 virus outbreak originating from Wuhan, China. He also threatened to “kick out” reporters or officials seen wearing a face mask. He said that the real illness ...

On March 14, International Day of Action for Rivers, 23 countries’ indigenous, together with  thousands of river stewards, defenders, and allies called for the protection of their rivers and rights to manage them,  with hundreds more joined in via social media and digital outreach. “We cannot ...

SREKOR COMMUNE, STUNG TRENG PROVINCE — Fut Kheun has been keeping a close watch on the water levels at the Sesan II reservoir, in the remote Srekor commune of Stung Treng province. The ethnic Kreung villager is living close to the water at the reservoir, two ...

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and its member organizations, Equality Myanmar, Progressive Voice and Women’s League of Burma, have jointly called for the full restoration of Internet services in townships in Rakhine and Chin states to enable communities to access critical ...

 Cambodian authorities should stop arresting people for expressing concerns about COVID-19’s impact in Cambodia and claiming they are spreading so-called “fake news,” Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has documented the arrests of 17 people since late January 2020 for sharing information about the coronavirus in Cambodia. ...

Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports confirmed on Monday that two Myanmar nationals who recently arrived from overseas have tested positive for COVID-19 in Chin State and Yangon Region. One had traveled to the United States and another had visited the UK during the past ...

Thai hospitals are deploying “ninja robots” to measure fevers and protect the health of overburdened medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. First built to monitor recovering stroke patients, the machines have been quickly repurposed to help fight the disease, which has so far ...

While being on the right track, the government’s latest response to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) by closing schools and entertainment venues, as well as putting off the Songkran break, is likely to prove too little, too late, once again. As other countries have shown, the ...

Cambodian authorities should end the politically motivated investigations of four environmental activists looking into illegal logging in Kratie province, Human Rights Watch said today, the International Day of Forests. The authorities should investigate a Taiwanese-Cambodian company whose employees allegedly detained the activists, including the prominent environmentalist Ouch ...

Muesaw Chokedilok, an ethnic Karen woman from Thailand’s Kaburdin Village in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi district, hops aboard an old pickup truck for a rugged ride up the mountain. With her are a group of housewives from the same village, all clad in cotton handwoven clothes ...