People and government
Vietnamese Facebook User Gets Six-Year Prison Term For ‘Negative’ Posts
Vietnamese democracy advocate Huyn Dac Tuy was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in southern Vietnam’s Quang Ngai province to a six-year prison term, followed by three years’ probation, for criticizing the country’s communist government in a series of online posts, according to state media ...
UNHCR Statement on Voluntary Repatriation to Myanmar
Through their bilateral Joint Working Group on repatriation, the Government of Myanmar conveyed to the Government of Bangladesh the names of 3,450 Rohingya refugees who have been cleared for return to Rakhine State, Myanmar. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, sees Myanmar’s engagement in this process ...
UN Warns Mekong River Is A Disaster Hotspot
The Mekong River basin was identified as a major disaster risk hotspot by the United Nations today. Poor people living close to the river suffer high exposure to flood and drought, according to a report released today. A UN official also called for the nations in ...
Information access law to be finalised next month
The Ministry of Information on Tuesday concluded the final revision by key ministries of the draft Law on Access to Information, without making any major amendments. It will be submitted to the Council of Ministers to be rubber-stamped by the end of September or beginning ...
Voun Dara
Planning department boosts women’s leadership potential
The Department of Planning under the Ministry of Planning and Investment hosted a one-day training seminar on “Smart Leadership for Women” aiming to enhance the capacity of its female staff. The department’s Director General, Ms Phonevanh Outhavong, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning and ...
Human Smugglers Work with Corrupt Thai Officials: UN Report
As much as 80 percent of irregular migrant workers were ferried into Thailand by smuggling services, sometimes with the help of corrupt Thai officials, a recent report by the United Nations said. In a report released at a news conference last week, the UN Office on ...
Pravit Rojanaphruk
No justice in Rakhine
Abdullah keeps track of each time he has nearly died. When asked to introduce himself, he begins to list each brush with death with the same practised air of one listing the experiences on their resume. A Rohingya refugee living in Cox’s Bazar for the ...
Robin Spiess
Thai animal traffickers keep getting away with crimes, and authorities ask for U.S. help
When Thailand arrested suspected animal trafficking kingpin Boonchai Bach last year, it was hailed by animal rights groups as a watershed day and a chance to unravel Hydra, the vast Vietnamese trafficking ring he was believed to be part of. One animal welfare group compared Mr. Boonchai’s capture ...
Jeff Mordock
Myanmar struggles to tackle illegal drug trade that has morphed from traditional to modern drugs
Myanmar is caught in a conundrum as the government attempts to clean up the country’s illegal drugs trade. The country stands alongside Afghanistan as one of the top illegal drug producers in the world. And the illegal drug cartels have kept up with the times ...
Meeting reviews headway in reducing gender-based violence
The government and development partners have reviewed progress in implementing the ‘Bringing Justice Closer to Women Suffering from Gender Based Violence’ project from 2016-2019. The Vientiane National Commission for the Advancement of Women and Mother-Child (NCAWMC) and Sub Commission for the Advancement of Women on Friday ...
