Law and judiciary - Open Development Mekong

Final Hurdle cleared for Thailand’s first law to protect ethnic groups’ way of life

Thailand’s House of Representatives clears the final hurdle for the first law protecting ethnic groups’ cultural rights and way of life. The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved changes made by the Senate to a bill, clearing the final hurdle for the enactment of Thailand’s first law to guarantee the rights and protect the way […]

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Govt wants Mekong group to address scam gangs

The government will use the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) meeting this week to seek cooperation from neighbouring countries to address the problem of call centre scam gangs. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he had instructed Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa to raise the issue with participating countries and explore effective strategies for dealing with cross-border crime, including […]

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UN Warns Thousands Trafficked into Online Crime in SE Asia

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Hundreds of thousands of people are being coerced in Southeast Asia by criminal gangs into carrying out online scams, often under the threat of torture, the United Nations said Tuesday. Many have been trafficked into working in online criminality and face serious violations such as torture or sexual violence, the UN said in […]

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Cambodian Leader U-Turns on Rare Dolphin Conservation Law

PHNOM PENH — Cambodian leader Hun Sen on Thursday cancelled a law he created just two months ago to protect critically endangered Mekong dolphins as the mammals continue to die from illegal fishing activities. The population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the river Mekong has dwindled from 200, when the first census was taken in 1997, to […]

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Ratify enforced disappearance pact now

As of last year, according to UN figures, there were nearly 80 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand. Considering the country now has a law in place against enforced disappearances, in force since earlier in the year, how should we prevent and remedy these crimes? Cases of enforced disappearances usually have three elements — […]

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Number of IDPs in Myanmar Has Surged Above 1.8 Million

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) surpassed 1.8 million in war-ravaged Myanmar on June 12, 2023, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Prior to the February 2021 military coup, the estimated number of internally displaced people was 328,000. They were in Kachin, Rakhine, Karen, Shan and Chin states. Between February […]

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Myanmar Military Court Sentences Ex-Publisher to Five Years for Sedition

The former publisher of independent news outlet The Irrawaddy has been sentenced to five years in prison for sedition, marking the latest in a barrage of attacks on the press in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup. Thaung Win was sentenced by the military-controlled Western Yangon District Court on June 28 under Article 124-A of the penal […]

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US, UN slam arrest of prominent Vietnamese environmental activist

The United States and United Nations has criticised Vietnam’s detention of a prominent climate activist, saying such actions were part of a broader trend towards curbing free speech. Hoang Thi Minh Hong, the founder of now-defunct NGO CHANGE, which aimed to tackle some of the country’s most urgent environmental issues, was taken into custody in Ho Chi […]

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Climate of fear engulfs Vietnam’s mainstream media

A fear-cloaked dynamic has increasingly percolated Vietnam’s information environment, in both cyberspace and the mainstream media. A decree guiding the controversial Cybersecurity Law, which took effect in October 2022, looks to further empower Vietnamese authorities to censor online content they disfavour and bolster the state’s digital surveillance capacity. This regulatory move is just one of the latest in […]

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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 her plan to return to Cambodia from the U.S. […]

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