News
Safeguarding labour migration in the Mekong region
In recent years, several UN agencies and NGOs have moved away from a narrow anti-trafficking focus to a broader focus on migration governance. It is within this context that ‘safe migration’ has become a popular approach for migration assistance provision. The Mekong region is a fertile ...
Sverre Molland
International team visits Tennessee for water development initiative
An international team from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam visited the Tennessee and Cumberland River Systems last week at the invitation of the United States in support of water development in the Lower Mekong River Basin. The U.S. State Department sponsored the sharing of information ...
Leon Roberts
Vietnam has a new partner in its old rivalry with China – the US
When Dang Duc Toai completed the Aviation Leadership Programme at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi last month, he became a trailblazer among pilots from his native Vietnam. Dang, a captain in the Vietnam People’s Air Force, was the first of his countrymen to graduate from ...
John Power
Illegal gold mining pollutes Đắkrông River
Although the Thừa Thiên-Huế Province People’s Committee announced it had cracked down on illegal gold mining along the upper part of the Đắkrông River in A Lưới District, the river water is still polluted, affecting people living downstream. Lao động (Labour) newspaper on Wednesday reported that gold ...
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 ...
Robust and coordinated action needed to save Asia-Pacific’s forests – new UN FAO report
Forests in the vast Asia-Pacific region are facing a serious threat as primary forest cover is now only 19 percent of total forest area – the lowest level of any region worldwide, a major gathering of forestry stakeholders heard today. Some 2,000 delegates are participating in Asia-Pacific ...
Asean: Prioritise rights of Rohingya
As ASEAN prepares for its 34th summit in Bangkok from Thursday to June 23, the heads of its member states must keep the Rohingya crisis at the top of their agenda. With the world’s largest refugee camp now sitting at the doorstep of Asean, the regional ...
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
Chinese media is misleading the public on the impacts of hydro in Laos
Last month, the New York Times ran a piece of propaganda and misinformation masquerading as news. The piece was entitled “Employment on Hydropower Project in Laos Delivers Better Lives,” and it was created and paid for by the China Daily, the English-language mouthpiece for the People’s Republic ...
