A new report from Global Witness alleges that exports of sand to Singapore are devastating Cambodia. The press release is as follows:
[REPORT] Beijing Launches Sweeping Crackdown on Sex Industry
By Meg Davis and Josh Clarkson
Acrackdown on sex workers and related businesses in April and May has resulted in over a thousand arrests and the shuttering of hundreds of businesses throughout Beijing, according to news reports.
[NEWS] Law Chokes NGOs’ Foreign Funding
By Peter Ford
Sitting in a bare office behind an anonymous steel door, Yu Fangqiang
feels under siege.
His small nongovernmental organization, Yirenping, has enjoyed
remarkable success in helping HIV and hepatitis B sufferers fight
discrimination by Chinese employers, universities, and government
departments. For this challenge to the authorities, though, the group is
paying a high price.
Last year, police raided Yirenping’s Beijing office and confiscated
all its publicity material and legal aid brochures – hence the empty
bookshelves. In March, officials subjected their accounts to an
unusually prolonged investigation and warned them of more to come.
Now, new government regulations are starving Yirenping and other
controversial NGOs of funds.
“I am very worried about our future,”
says Mr. Yu, Yirenping’s chief coordinator. “I’m afraid we may have to
close.”
Read the full story at Christian Science Monitor.
[REPORT] Simmering Anger Sparks Fiery Outburst in Bangkok
By Pipob Udomittipong
The following is an eyewitness account of the
demonstrations in downtown Bangkok over the past several days. In the wake of
lost lives and massive damage done to infrastructure and buildings in the area,
the government has claimed success in “taking back the area” from the Red Shirt
demonstrators. Much media attention has focused on the property damages, often
overshadowing the human cost of the clearing operation. Images of sabotaged
infrastructure have been featured extensively and repeatedly to vilify the Red
Shirts and justify one of the most brutal suppressions in Thailand’s history. This piece
outlines the gulf that still exists between the government and the
demonstrators, and the unresolved anger on both sides, fueled by an incomplete
narrative in the media. The lingering anger and questions in the minds of many
Thais must be addressed if the country is to move beyond this current tragedy.
[COMMENTARY] Migrant Workers in Southeast Asia Need Stronger Protection
By Shiwei Ye
Migrant workers
represent one of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups in the world.
Recognizing this acute vulnerability, in 1990 the UN General Assembly adopted
the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW). In the 20 years since, while
some progress has been made to strengthen the protection regime at various
levels, in practice, migrant workers remain largely unprotected. This is
especially the case in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
region, where the Convention has been ratified by only one country (the
Philippines) and signed by just two others (Cambodia and Indonesia).
