ASEAN Civil Society 2015 – ACSC/APF National Organizing Committee (NOC), Accelerating a People-Centered Region: Introspection of the Envisioned ASEAN Community in 2015

Kuala Lumpur – As Malaysia will be chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015, the next ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples Forum (ACSC/APF)i Kuala Lumpur in March/April 2015, parallel to the ASEAN Summit. We are proud to say that it was the Malaysian government, under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister, which initiated the first ASEAN civil society conference in 2005. Thus, the ACSC/APF 2015 marks a full circle since the meaningful initiative by Malaysia 10 years ago […]

Myanmar’s Rosewood Crisis

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Extremely rapid growth in Chinese imports of ‘redwood’, ‘rosewoods’ or ‘Hongmu’ timbers from Myanmar in the past two years is directly driving increased illegal and unsustainable logging, posing a real threat to governance, the rule of law and the viability Myanmar’s dwindling forests.

EIA research shows that, based on current trends, the two most targeted Hongmu species in Myanmar – tamalan and padauk – could be logged to commercial extinction in as little as three years.

With financial rewards for illegal loggers and timber smugglers dwarfing traditional incomes, and evidence of corruption facilitating illegal business, Myanmar’s domestic controls will be unable to effectively stem illegal trade.

Myanmar urgently needs to engender legal reciprocity from strategic timber trade partners, particularly China, to ensure Myanmar’s forestry and trade laws are respected along its land border […]

Finnwatch Researcher Andy Hall Faces Court in First ‘Natural Fruit’ Hearing 2nd July, Insists No Meaningful Negotiation Likely

Andy Hall and his team, with TFFA/TTIA representatives, in front of the Prakanong Court prior to his detention pending bail on 18th June 2014

British migrant rights activist Andy Hall, who campaigns to improve conditions for migrant workers in Thailand, will face Prakanong Criminal Court at 830am on Wed. 2nd July in his first formal appearance before a Thai court in numerous criminal and civil cases filed against him by Natural Fruit Company Ltd […]

Fortify Rights Executive Director Wins 2014 Echoing Green Fellowship

(BANGKOK) Echoing Green, a leading global nonprofit that supports “social entrepreneurs launching bold new organizations to generate positive systemic change,” today announced its selection of Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, as a 2014 Global Fellow […]

Thailand: Fears of Crackdown Trigger Exodus

(New York) – The Thai military authorities should urgently improve human rights protections of migrant workers to end their mass flight from the country, Human Rights Watch said today.

Following the military coup on May 22, 2014, several hundred thousand registered and unregistered migrant workers from Cambodia, Burma, and Laos have fled the country in fear of a government crackdown and newly announced regulations. More than 200,000 Cambodian workers […]

Statement by the IMF Mission to Myanmar

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mr. Matt Davies visited Myanmar during June 4–17 to hold the 2014 Article IV Consultation discussions with the authorities.1 The mission met with Minister of President’s Office U Soe Thane, Union Minister of Finance U Win Shein, Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) Governor U Kyaw Kyaw Maung, as well as other senior officials, parliamentarians, representatives from private sector and civil societies, donors and the diplomatic community […]

Thai Industry Commits to Support Bail Out

On Wed. 18th June at 9am, British migrant rights activist Andy Hall,
who campaigns to improve conditions for migrant workers in Thailand,
will be escorted from Bangna police station, Bangna district, Bangkok
by police officers to meet officials at the Prakanong Public Prosecutors Office, Bangkok to learn the public prosecutor?s decision whether the latest criminal charges filed against him by Natural Fruit Co. Ltd. will be ordered prosecuted at Prakanong district court […]

Press Release: IFC Should Postpone Burma Investment

(Washington, D.C) – US Campaign for Burma (USCB) calls on the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to ensure that IFC investments in Burma are oriented toward poverty alleviation, and to prioritize safeguards and transparency. Three out of the IFC’s five projects in Burma involve the construction of upscale hotels, and the most recently proposed IFC project will excuse the Burmese client, Yoma Bank, from implementing basic due diligence and safeguards […]

Council Conclusions on the Establishment of a Human Rights Dialogue with Myanmar/Burma

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

The Council recalls the adoption in 2001 of the European Guidelines on human rights dialogues, revised in 2008.
The Council recognizes the importance of further strengthening the relationship between the European Union and Myanmar/Burma by establishing an EU-Myanmar/Burma Human Rights dialogue, as foreseen in the Council Conclusions on the Comprehensive Framework for the European Union’s policy and support to Myanmar/Burma of 22 July 2013 and agreed during the EU-Myanmar/Burma Task Force held on 13-15 November 2013 […]

Malaysian Government Undermines ASEAN Processes

Malaysian civil society organisations are appalled that, ahead of the ASEAN Summit on 11th May 2014, the Malaysian government has objected to the Malaysian civil society delegate due to attend the Interface Meeting between Civil Society and the ASEAN Heads of State. We are further dismayed by news that the Cambodian and Singaporean governments […]