Radio Free Asia
Malaysia deports 114 Muslim Myanmar nationals, including children, their lawyer says
Malaysia has deported 114 Muslim Myanmar nationals who will be persecuted by the ruling military when they return, although they are not Rohingya, their lawyer said Thursday. Amnesty International Malaysia said Kuala Lumpur returned the Myanmar nationals to their strife-torn country, despite condemning the Burmese junta’s ...
Iman Muttaqin Yusof and Iskandar Zulkarnain for BenarNews
Satellite photos show expansion of Chinese-funded naval base in Cambodia
Recent satellite images taken of the coastal area around Sihanoukville, Cambodia, show a significant development of a China-funded naval base that would help Beijing boost its power projection not only in Southeast Asia but also the Taiwan Strait. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Phnom ...
RFA Staff / Edited by Malcolm Foster
Lost in Laos: Systemic problems are far greater than one new leader can solve
On 30 December, Lao Prime Minster Phankham Viphavanh (72) resigned ostensibly on health grounds, but amidst an economy in sharp decline and saddled in foreign debt. He is succeeded by the scion of one of the country’s two political dynasties, Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (56). Politics in ...
A commentary by Zachary Abuza
Cambodia sentences 36 opposition officials to prison terms on conspiracy charges
A court in Cambodia on Thursday sentenced 36 senior officials of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, most of whom have already fled the country, to between five and seven years in prison. The opposition officials were convicted of supporting party Vice President Mu Sochua in ...
Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong
Escaping the chaos of home, Myanmar migrants face exploitation abroad
Forced to flee her Magway village in southeast Myanmar during a junta attack, Theingi Soe spent a “terrible” month living in makeshift shelters in the jungle during the rainy season. In her misery, she began to plot another escape – to a life in a ...
Nayrein Kyaw and Gemunu Amarasinghe
A year on, Laotians say high-speed rail link with China has brought them few benefits
A year ago, a U.S.$6 billion high-speed railway was completed between Laos and China amid much fanfare and hopes that it would fuel exports from Laos and spur growth in the impoverished, landlocked country. But one year later, most of the trade has been one-way: from ...
RFA Lao
Cambodian plan to allow hunting in protected areas worries conservationists
Hunting in Cambodia’s protected areas and forests would be legal in some cases under a proposal from the country’s Ministry of Environment that conservation groups fear could lead to abuses that threaten wildlife populations, according to drafts of rule changes seen by RFA. The ministry is ...
Jack Adamović Davies
Lao authorities seem powerless to stop crime in Golden Triangle economic zone
The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northern Laos is a haven for criminal activities including prostitution, scamming and drug trafficking, but Lao authorities are essentially powerless to stop it, workers in the zone and police told Radio Free Asia. The zone is a gambling and ...
RFA Lao
Myanmar junta bans Irrawaddy news agency after months of harassment
Myanmar’s junta has officially banned online news outlet The Irrawaddy and charged the outlet’s registered publisher for violating national security laws, state media reported over the weekend, following months of legal harassment. The ban is the latest on at least 20 media groups – news agencies, ...
RFA Burmese
Southeast Asia remains world rice bowl as pockets of region suffer crop disasters
Rice crops in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have taken a hit from flooding and conflict this year, casting a shadow on a mostly sunny outlook for Southeast Asia’s output of the key grain as the region deals with other potential longer term supply troubles, farm ...
RFA Burmese, RFA Khmer and RFA Lao
