This week sectarian violence erupted between Buddhists and Muslims in the central Myanmar town of Meiktila, leaving at least 20 dead, though the tally is likely much higher, and includes men, women, and children. The clashes, triggered by a dispute…
Human Rights
Internal Displacement in Southeast Asia
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
By Phoebe De Padua Southeast Asia, where violent conflicts and natural disasters often drive people from their homes, is home to around two million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Measures that protect IDPs remain lacking in most of the region. However,…
The Leaderboard: Ieng Sary
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Who is he? Ieng Sary was the co-founder and minister of foreign affairs of the Khmer Rouge, the regime which oversaw the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during its rule from 1975 to 1979. He was also brother-in-law to the…
Friday Five: March 15, 2013
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally announced that Japan plans to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, after months of debate in Japan and diplomatic consultations with existing TPP partners. CSIS scholars Mike Green and Matt Goodman were on the case…
The Leaderboard: Ambiga Sreenevasan
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Who is she? Ambiga Sreenevasan is the chair of Bersih, a non-government electoral reform group in Malaysia. A lawyer by training, she served as president of the Malaysian Bar Council from 2007 to 2009. Beside electoral reform, she is also…
New Sexual Assault Laws in India: Only the Beginning
by cogitASIA Staff • • 2 Comments
By Persis Khambatta and Guruamrit Khalsa The violent attack on a young woman in New Delhi last December, and the nationwide protests that followed, were yet another indication that India’s youth are increasingly fed up. This case, piled upon…
Burma Preview: The People to Watch in 2013
by cogitASIA Staff • • 3 Comments
By Aung Din [Editor’s Note: Key players will shape Burma in 2013, for better or worse. As a guest contributor to cogitASIA, Aung Din will examine their current role in Burma, and their potential impact in the coming year, in…
The Leaderboard: Somyot Prueksakasemsuk
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Who is he? Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a well-known Thai editor and activist. He launched the magazine Voice of Taksin in 2009 in support of outsted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The government shut down the magazine in 2010. Somyot has since…
Conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state: Lessons from Indonesia
by cogitASIA Staff • • 3 Comments
By Lynn Kuok The conflict in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh threatens to derail the country’s attempts to break with its authoritarian past and move towards a democratic future. It has, at its roots, the policies of successive Myanmar…
By the Numbers: Human Security in Southeast Asia
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
Human security conditions continue to be a major concern across Southeast Asia, and this week we take a look at migrant workers, refugees, and other transnational flows of people across the region. The International Labor Organization (ILO) on January 9…