Disasters and emergency response

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has allocated 800 million VND (nearly 34,000 USD) to five provinces which have declared an emergency due to saltwater intrusion. The money comes from the ministry’s Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund. The provinces are Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Kien Giang and Ca ...

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict in Myanmar face a health “catastrophe” from the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, a rights group warned, as international calls grow for an end to fighting. Overcrowded camps with an estimated 350,000 people were “Covid-19 tinderboxes”, Human Rights Watch said. Myanmar ...

The monsoon season, which usually runs from about May to October, came two weeks late in 2019 and ended three weeks early, leaving Thailand with less rainfall than usual, according to the Mekong River Commission.   That is contributing to a drought that is drying up ...

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 ...

As societies around the world focus on containing the spread of the novel coronavirus, millions of people in Southeast Asia have another worry on their minds: How to put food on their table amid a devastating drought. In Thailand, historically low levels of rainfall since last summer have ...

The six countries in the Langcang-Mekong Region vowed to further enhance water resource cooperation in a video conference during the 2020 LMC (Lancang-Mekong Cooperation) Week activity that began on Monday. “At present, the novel coronavirus is spreading globally, and all countries in the world are fighting ...

The region has suffered from drought since 2016. Five provinces have declared a state of emergency earlier this month. In most places, the Mekong is between 0.1 and 1 metre above the Eastern Sea level. Lack of rain, water use and more dams have increased ...

Laos is shuttering small checkpoints on its borders with Vietnam and Cambodia as part of a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus into the country, where authorities have yet to announce a positive case of the disease caused by the virus (COVID-19). The ...

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon is calling for international efforts to monitor the controversial Luang Prabang dam project in Laos and the impact it will have on the Mekong River, where water levels have been unusually low. The issue was raised yesterday at a meeting chaired ...

Two Lao nationals living in Vientiane have been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) after their tests, released at about 9 pm on March 23, were shown to be positive, a task force announced yesterday. The 36-year-old female tour guide and the 28-year-old male worker from Crowne Plaza ...