January 27-February 2, 2025

NORTHEAST ASIA

Scam farm victims demand answers

Families of Hong Kong residents forced to work in scam farms across Southeast Asia have raised concerns over a lack of government updates on rescue efforts, as some victims were unable to contact their loved ones during the Lunar New Year.

This, said former district councilor Andy Yu Tak-po, was a worrying break from usual patterns where the farms at least allowed them to inform their loved ones that they were safe. He urged authorities to provide a definitive answer on their strategy for bringing the victims home, highlighting that scam operations typically allow captives to make brief calls or send messages during festive periods.

“The families feel increasingly worried, and they hope that the government can give them a definitive answer about their rescue plan to ease their anxiety.”

FAST FACTS

• It’s unclear how many Hong Kong residents have actually been lured into working for scam farms across Southeast Asia, particularly Myanmar and Cambodia. But in 2022, at least 46 Hong Kongers asked to be rescued by the government. As of November, all but three of those were returned to their families. 
• This illegal recruitment has been happening despite Beijing’s tight leash over the city government and even on Myanmar, where it cracked down on crime syndicates operating in the bordering Shan state as the junta control there weakened. 
• Earlier this month, the Security Bureau sent a task force to Thailand to discuss ways to rescue 28 other Hongkongers trapped in Myanmar and Cambodia. Two have since returned home.
• Some captives were held in the notorious “KK Park,”  a Chinese-run scam center on the Thai-Myanmar border, known for detaining thousands of forced laborers.
• The rescue of mainland actor Wang Xing last month reignited public attention on the issue, with more families now appealing to the Chinese government for increased assistance in rescuing loved ones still trapped in scam farms.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

Yu and affected families are calling on Hong Kong authorities to:

• Ensure transparency in their rescue plans and provide regular updates.
• Increase diplomatic efforts with Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia to secure the release of victims.
• Offer immediate support to families of those still trapped.
• Expand cooperation with international agencies and NGOs to prevent further trafficking cases.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Ushering reforms amid looming ASEAN membership   

Timor-Leste’s potential ASEAN membership, now 14 years in the making, presents a crucial opportunity to bolster its economic stability and, in turn, safeguard its democracy. 

However, to fully benefit from integration into the regional bloc, Timor-Leste must prioritize comprehensive reforms that not only bolster its economy but also strengthen its institutions that underpin its democracy, according to its former finance minister. 

“Although Timor-Leste has opted for democracy, the rule of law, institutions, governance effectiveness, public administration, and social development still present significant deficiencies. It is therefore necessary for programmes and projects to be designed to complement existing country efforts and to ensure the implementation of the various conventions that Timor-Leste has ratified,” said Rui Augusto Gomes in a recently published discussion paper. 

FAST FACTS

• A newly independent nation, Timor-Leste gained its freedom from Indonesia in 2002. This hard-won independence followed a period of conflict, leaving deep scars and posing significant challenges to national stability.
• Timor-Leste ranks among the world’s top 25 percent of stable democracies¹, but among the bottom 25 percent of countries in terms of basic welfare, according to the Global State of Democracy Initiative. 
• This, as well as the country’s overly dependent economy on petroleum, inadequate medical system, and still-improving transport and public utilities make Timor-Leste’s democracy fragile, and it must overcome these challenges to assure its future stability and development, says Koji Sakane, Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan director. 
• In his discussion paper, Gomes pointed out that Timor-Leste remains a difficult place to do business “given all the limitations in terms of institutional, human, and technological capacities.” It is heavily dependent on oil and gas exports, limiting its economic resilience; and struggles to generate sufficient domestic revenue through taxation, limiting the government’s capacity to drive economic development. 
• Timor-Leste’s anticipated entry in the ASEAN will mean access to a larger market with over 660 million people and its neighbors’ technical assistance and capacity-building programs.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

Among others, Gomes recommended:

• Enhancing education and skills development to equip the workforce with the necessary competencies for a competitive economy; 
• Strengthening institutions and combatting corruption to create a conducive environment for investment and sustainable development;
• Implement targeted social protection programs and invest in food security, health and education; and 
• Consolidate democratic practices and ensure rule of law.

¹ Specifically in terms of Elected Government, Freedom of Expression, Personal Integrity and Security and Electoral Participation.

SOUTH ASIA

Delivering on promised reforms 

Four months into his presidency, Anura Kumara Dissanayake is facing mounting challenges – from tackling corruption and rights abuses to navigating Sri Lanka’s fragile economic recovery. 

As public frustration grows over the rising cost of living and with local elections approaching, a Sri Lankan journalist urged his administration to act swiftly to deliver justice for corruption cases, stabilize the economy, and address human rights concerns to regain public trust.

“Absence of accountability is a serious black mark on Sri Lanka and not taking action in this front will also result in a credibility crisis for the new administration,” said Dilrukshi Handunnetti, founder and director of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). “Given their own experience, the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Dissanayake’s party)-led government should make a better commitment to the delivery of justice and create a pathway for non-recurrence.”

FAST FACTS

• Dissanayake, who ran on a leftist platform, assumed the presidency of Sri Lanka on Sept. 21, 2024, succeeding Ranil Wickremesinghe. This transition follows a period of severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka, marked by debt default, currency devaluation, and shortages of essential goods.
• The Wickremesinghe administration secured a crucial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which initiated a path toward economic stabilization. But now his successor Dissayanake faces the challenge of balancing the implementation of IMF-mandated austerity measures with the need to address public discontent over cost of living pressures.
• The government has begun taking action against corruption, including the arrest of the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on corruption and money laundering charges. However, the legal processes are slow.
• The United Nations is also monitoring Sri Lanka’s human rights record, particularly regarding violations during the civil war. Last year, its human rights office urged the government to take decisive action to reveal the fate of the disappeared, as it was in the process of forming yet another transitional justice commission to seek accountability for human rights abuses. 

ACTIONS SOUGHT

CIR’s Handunnetti called for the following: 

• Ensure transparency in corruption cases and expedite legal action against those implicated.
• Implement economic policies that address inequality, focusing on poverty reduction and price stabilization.
• Balance foreign relations carefully, avoiding over-reliance on Chinese or Indian investments.
• Advance transitional justice efforts, including investigations into past human rights violations.

GLOBAL / REGIONAL

Unrelenting challenge to restore democracy, with help from neighbors 

As the junta’s grip on Myanmar weakened last year following the massive victories by rebel and pro-independence fighters in bordering states, it also intensified its attacks on civilians to “unprecedented levels,” inflicting the highest death toll since it seized power four years ago. 

This was the finding of a new analysis by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, released a week before the anniversary of the junta’s coup d’etat (Feb. 1) that overthrew its civilian government then led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Now more than ever, U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said the onus is on influential governments, especially regional ones, to intensify efforts to end the violence, ensure humanitarian access, and demand the release of political prisoners.

This call was echoed by rights group CIVICUS, which specifically called out the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders for having “little political will” to end the violence wracking their neighbor. 

Experts believe that the ASEAN’s 5-Point Consensus to mitigate violence in Myanmar was a promising initial step but has been largely ineffective, thanks largely to the bloc’s lack of enforcement mechanism, weak political will, and internal divisions.  

FAST FACTS

• Since 2021, the number of people requiring urgent aid in Myanmar has skyrocketed from 1 million to nearly 20 million, while the conflict has displaced over 3 million internally. Tens of thousands have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
• The OHCHR said that as the military’s control weakened,  it launched waves of retaliatory airstrikes and shelling, carried out arbitrary arrests, and forcibly conscripted thousands of young people into military service. 
• The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reports that as of Jan. 31, it has recorded the deaths of at least 6,239 civilians, including 1,397 women and 714 children, killed by the military in the past four years. 

Fast figures, 2021-2024

Source: AAPP

• Beyond rights advocates, the European Union also reiterated its calls to end the violence in Myanmar and to release all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. 
• Last November, the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant against acting president Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.

ACTIONS SOUGHT

• Apart from calls to end the violence, Turk also urged the international community to make sure to end impunity for the junta’s crimes. 
• CIVICUS urged the ASEAN to engage with the government in exile to dismantle the junta and restore democracy in Myanmar.