Phnom Penh, Cambodia-Driven by bald-faced corruption at the highest levels in the Cambodian government, the poor and disenfranchised of the country are systematically being stripped of their land under the guise of development schemes, economic land concessions, and through the exploitation of a continually failing legal system.Resident of Dey Krahorm Community
Outside the Bishop's residence about a hundred Tamil women are crying and wailing, many of them clutching copies of death certificates or missing person's reports to their chests. Crumpled up in their fists are photocopies of ID cards belonging to their husbands, their sons, their fathers-all murdered, abducted, or officially classified in a log somewhere as 'missing.' These women have all come here with the same intention: to try and gain an audience with the visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to tell their story and to plead for justice. In Jaffna, when someone disappears, they unfortunately have a way of never turning up again. Making the atrocities known is often the only solace these women can have.Wife with late husband's photo
EI TU TA, Burma-At 35, Naw Win Schwe has already lost more than she cares to think about. During a government military offensive near Mon township in March, Naw Win's husband Maung Thanlwin was arrested and killed by Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Since then she has also lost her home, land and almost everything she and her husband had once owned. Eventually she was forced to flee for her own life as well, which is how she ended up in the Ei Tu Ta refugee camp on the eastern edge of Burma's Karen state.
Signaling a potentially momentous change in its foreign policy toward Myanmar, Thailand's new Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand has said he intends to reassess, and possibly abandon, the previous Thai government's controversial joint-plans with Myanmar's military junta to build five hydroelectric dams along the Salween River. More recently, Thailand's new Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram echoed those sentiments, telling news reporters in Bangkok that Thailand's 'cosy' commercial relationship with Myanmar is at an end. However, Nitya went on to say, "Some of the discussions relating to energy cooperation probably will continue," though he declined to give further details.
Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) was recently assigned the task of repatriating 4,500 ethnic Hmong living in Phetchabun province-and they were told by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in this case, a 'quick fix' just isn't feasible.
After receiving a new home and a chance to start over in southern Thailand, Suphanee Tapsunthorn is moving forward. She is thankful that she still has her life and her five children to comfort her and even allows herself a wary smile. But Suphanee is also living in a constant state of fear. Deep down she feels that nothing can ever truly compensate her for all that she has lost.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019