Democracy Digest
Democracy Digest
A bite-sized weekly wrap-up of developments
across the region through a human rights and democratic lens
Democracy Digest

August 22, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: China’s chilling psywar tactic; the lowest-paid workers in Bangladesh; Cambodia’s ground zero for human trafficking; and why FIFA and Qatar owe abused migrant workers US$440 million in reparations.

China
Chilling psywar to silence critics
A young girl live-tweets herself splashing paint on a portrait of her country’s president. A man petitions the government for medical compensation for an injury he sustained while serving in the army. In a democracy, citizens can safely exercise their rights and do such acts.

In China, the communist regime will do everything in its power to silence and stigmatize its perceived critics even if it means locking them up in mental hospitals — without medical justification, a new report said.

Madrid-based NGO Safeguard Defenders released the report, “Drugged and Detained: China’s psychiatric prisons.” The study highlights the plight of 99 victims who were sent to mental institutions between 2015 and 2021. The alleged victims said they were subjected to electroshock therapy and forced drugging. The horrific abuse takes place nearly a decade after the country passed laws against such abuse, the report said.

“Called Ankang, after the system of police-run psychiatric prisons launched in the 1980s, nowadays, most victims are locked up in regular psychiatric wards, meaning that doctors and hospitals collude with the [Chinese Communist Party] to subject victims to medically unnecessary involuntary hospitalizations and forced medication,” the report said.

One of the victims featured in the report, longtime pro-democracy activist Song Zemin, was locked up in Pinggu District Psychiatric Hospital of Beijing in June 2017. He said that during his 59-day imprisonment, he lost nearly 51 pounds. Two of his teeth were broken when staff forced his mouth open to feed him drugs.

“The hardest part of being held in the psychiatric hospital is there is no release date … you could be there for 20 years or 30 years,” Song said.
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Bangladesh
Tea workers as modern-day slaves
Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest tea producers. Its fragrant tea leaves delight tea lovers in 20 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The country’s tea industry is valued at about US$368,000 and contributes about 1 percent to the GDP, according to the United News of Bangladesh.

Built on the backs of nearly 150,000 tea garden workers, the industry employs workers who are mostly female, do back-breaking work, and are among the lowest paid in the country.

Thousands of tea workers have been protesting since Aug. 9 to demand a rise in daily wage by 150 percent. They face stiff resistance from plantation owners who have systematically exploited them for decades.

In Bangladesh, the minimum daily wage ranges from 300 taka (US$3) to 800 taka (US$8), depending on the worker’s location and occupation, reports Newsclick. Tea workers only earn a daily wage of 120 taka (US$1.26).

And they receive that wage “only when they can collect a minimum of 24 kilograms of leaves,” reports Bdnews24.Com. That’s the weight of 7,680 tea bags. If the workers don’t meet their quota, they get paid less.

Amid rising inflation and high food prices, the 120 taka the workers receive can barely buy them two kilograms of rice. “How will we survive?” Sangkor Kairi, a worker at Luhaiuni Tea Garden in the Moulvibazar district, told UCA News. “We are still working on this wage like slaves. But now our backs are against the wall, we are demanding a daily wage of at least 300 taka.”

The workers are like modern-day slaves, said Philip Gain, director of the Society for Environment and Human Development research group, who has written books on tea workers, in an Al Jazeera report. “The plantation owners have hijacked the minimum wage authorities and kept the wages some of the lowest in the world.”

It’s no wonder then that about 74 percent of tea workers live in poverty, according to a 2018 study by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The rate is much higher than the national poverty rate of 21.8 reported by the bureau in the same year, reports UCA News.
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REGIONAL
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Cambodia scams a regional nightmare
Sihanoukville, the port city on Cambodia’s south coast, was once a seaside jewel. But it has deteriorated into a notoriously lawless port — and ground zero for human trafficking in the country.

Organized crime groups have lured citizens from countries such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs. Many victims land in Sihanoukville, which has “become one of the biggest global hotspots for online scamming operations,” reports Sixth Tone. The victims are held captive and forced, under threat of violence, to perpetrate web scams. Horror stories abound of victims being beaten and tortured by electrocution and being held for ransom, reports The Diplomat.

Many victims are sold onward. Pipi, a rescued victim identified only by her nickname, told Taiwanese legislators that she was resold four times in seven days, reports Focus Taiwan. She escaped with help from a local Cambodian provincial governor and an anti-fraud organization.

Taiwan is just one on a long list of countries in the region that have expressed concerns about human trafficking in Cambodia. The list includes Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, and China.

Concerned citizens in Hong Kong are urging the government to join the list. They recently called for city authorities to issue travel warnings for Cambodia and Myanmar and “to alert people to the dangers of job scams there,” reports Radio Television Hong Kong.

Cambodia’s failure to counter human trafficking helps explain why the U.S. State Department recently dropped the country to Tier 3 — the lowest level — in its annual human trafficking report. Phnom Penh was apparently “shocked” by the ranking.

In March, 35 civil society groups urged the Cambodian government to urgently address “a crisis of forced labor, slavery, and torture.”
Global
When will FIFA, Qatar pay up?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar takes place less than 100 days away. The Middle Eastern nation and the football world are abuzz with excitement. But the migrant workers who were abused as they labored to make the World Cup possible have little reason to celebrate.

The Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) awarded Qatar the right to host the World Cup in 2010 despite its poor human rights record. Since then, thousands of migrant workers have died due to unexplained causes or suffered injuries. Many workers have been victims of wage theft by their employers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently called on FIFA and Qatari authorities “to establish a comprehensive remedy program” for the abused workers. Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW, noted that Qatar has compensated some of the workers. But, he said, “for many, these programs were created too late and are still a major work in progress.”

Figures from 2011 to late 2020 show that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have lost their lives, an investigation by the Guardian revealed. The figure is likely to be an underestimate; it does not include deaths from countries which send large numbers of workers to Qatar.

Many of the workers who died were sole breadwinners. Their deaths have shattered lives, tipped families into deeper poverty, and jeopardized children’s futures. HRW noted that families may be forced “to send children to work or into early marriage to make ends meet.”

In a joint letter, Amnesty International and rights groups worldwide called on FIFA to pay at least US$440 million in reparations to the abused workers. This is the same amount that FIFA will give in prize money to the 32 national federations whose teams are competing in Qatar, reports Doha News. The groups say that this represents a mere drop in the ocean of FIFA’s anticipated US$6 billion revenues from the tournament.

As HRW’s #PayUpFIFA campaign gains momentum, professional footballers and fan groups have added their voices to the campaign. On Aug. 15, Adidas became the first FIFA sponsor to publish a statement in support of a compensation fund for migrant workers.
August 22, 2022
August 22, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: China’s chilling psywar tactic; the lowest-paid workers in Bangladesh; Cambodia’s ground zero for human trafficking; and why FIFA and Qatar owe abused migrant workers US$440 million in reparations.

August 15, 2022
August 15, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: Indonesia’s repressive hijab rules; the plight of Seoul’s basement dwellers; the Afghan evacuees trapped by red tape; and the crucial role of Indigenous women as keepers of knowledge.

August 8, 2022
August 8, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a setback in Malaysian mothers’ campaign against an unequal citizenship law; Japan’s flawed program that has become a breeding ground for abuse; the heavy toll of water scarcity in Bangladesh; and the women who eat last and least.

August 1, 2022
August 1, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a discriminatory lockdown in Taiwan; the endless wait for justice for victims of wartime atrocities in Nepal; a new law that is a betrayal of public health in the Philippines; and alarming news about the other deadly virus.

July 25, 2022
July 25, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a “zero click” Trojan horse attacking the phones of Thai activists; the heavy-handed tactics of Sri Lanka’s new government; the bleak picture for freedom of expression in Asia; and the fresh hell inflicted by Pyongyang on harried North Koreans.

July 18, 2022
July 18, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: an app update that may increase state control in Hong Kong; the serious risk to Myanmar’s democracy activists; the depressing news in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2022; and Afghanistan’s secret schools for girls.

July 11, 2022
July 11, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a landmark ruling against modern slavery; a massive data breach that exposed the personal data of 1 billion Chinese; a faint glimmer of hope for Pakistan’s victims of enforced disappearances; and a contentious Indonesian draft law that would promote — not prevent — rights violations.

July 4, 2022
July 4, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: India’s travel bans on journalists; South Korea’s bad bosses; Asia’s worst countries for workers in 2022; and a promising uptick in financial inclusion worldwide.

June 27, 2022
June 27, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a historic wage hike for garment workers in Pakistan’s Sindh province; the U.S. law which bans the import of goods made with forced labor from China’s Xinjiang region; the Asian countries that keep their citizens in the dark; and Vietnam’s environmental activists under attack.

June 20, 2022
June 20, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the twin victory of South Korean truckers; the spotty observance of the right of due process in the Philippines; the growing problem of elder abuse; and the burning issue of global warming — and the tools to cool down cities.

June 13, 2022
June 13, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: how Mongolia brought digital rights to many citizens’ fingertips; a hidden lockdown for migrant workers in Singapore; the cross-cutting issue of food safety; and Bangladesh’s arbitrary cancellation of the license of a key human rights NGO.

June 6, 2022
June 6, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a landmark settlement for sacked Thai garment workers; an ongoing battle for marriage equality in Taiwan; how attacks on schools worldwide jeopardize the future of children; period poverty and pain.

May 30, 2022
May 30, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the palm oil that is tainted by corporate greed; a law that restricts rape victims in Nepal in their quest for justice; Japan’s controversial training of the Tamadaw; and the shroud of secrecy veiling Asia’s executing countries.

May 23, 2022
May 23, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a shadow pandemic in Thailand; the Taliban’s dissolution of a key human rights body in Afghanistan; the doubtful outcome of the UN rights chief’s Xinjiang visit; and an invasive technology that may turn a lifeline app into a surveillance tool.

May 16, 2022
May 16, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the decades-long struggle for disability rights in South Korea; a minimum wage law that excludes domestic helpers in Malaysia; India’s antiquated and arbitrary sedition law; and the glaring gaps in alcohol marketing regulations that put young people and heavy drinkers at risk.

May 9, 2022
May 9, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the gloomy picture of press freedom in Asia; a heartbreaking polio outbreak in Pakistan; the turning of the tide for a prisoner of conscience in the Philippines; and North Korea’s fashion police.

May 2, 2022
May 2, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the latest setback for a fallen democracy icon in Myanmar; hard-won progress for worker safety in Bangladesh; another nail in the coffin of press freedom in Hong Kong; and the human and environmental costs of sand mining.

April 25, 2022
April 25, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a landmark legal victory for gay soldiers in South Korea; an assault on education and an ethnic community in Afghanistan; the return of an independence leader in Timor-Leste; and ASEAN’s failed five-point consensus on the Myanmar crisis.

April 18, 2022
April 18, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a landmark victory for Indonesian women; Hong Kong’s forgotten elderly; a proposed law that raises fears of a surveillance state in India; and the freedom that is at risk worldwide.

April 11, 2022
April 11, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the Filipina politician who is in the crosshairs of trolls and haters; Sri Lanka’s heavy-handed tactics; a horrifying new discovery about forced organ harvesting in China; and the major global problem of toxic air.

April 4, 2022
April 4, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: “delayed” justice for street sleepers in Hong Kong; a problematic draft law that could shut down Thailand’s vibrant civil society; India’s appalling apathy toward Rohingya refugees; and the “crucial weakness” in the governance of global health organizations.

March 28, 2022
March 28, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a watershed moment for lesbian and bisexual women everywhere; the other devastating pandemic; a victory for young voters in Taiwan; and Vietnam’s repressive Article 88.

March 21, 2022
March 21, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a baby step forward for women’s rights in Bangladesh; Singapore’s addiction to the death penalty; China’s unsafe food and how it threatens the ruling party; and the Qatari dream that has become the migrant workers’ nightmare.

March 14, 2022
March 14, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: South Korea’s “anti-feminist” president-elect; the tiny Southeast Asian country that is standing up to Russia; a call to end the Taliban’s crackdown on Afghan women’s rights; and the prescription for a full pandemic recovery.

March 7, 2022
March 7, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: ASEAN’s fence-sitting on the Ukraine crisis; the “shocking abuses” against indigenous Papuans; scant support for the backbone of Hong Kong’s economy; and lessons from an adaptation role model.

February 28, 2022
February 28, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the misleading marketing of formula milk to women worldwide; the guilty verdict that should be a watershed moment for Pakistan’s women; North Korea’s Supreme Leader’s focus on launching missiles over administering COVID-19 vaccines; and “a historic win” for grassroots activists.

February 21, 2022
February 21, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the pernicious practice of “red-tagging” in the Philippines; firewall fears in Hong Kong; a crackdown against journalists in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir; and a harmful and unnecessary rite of passage for girls.

February 14, 2022
February 14, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a horrifying hijab ban in India; an alarming spate of custodial deaths in Malaysia; the bullies hiding behind keyboards in South Korea; and the high toll of Japan’s strict entry ban.

February 7, 2022
February 7, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the “burner phone Olympics” in Beijing; Myanmar’s annus horribilis; the steep price Sri Lankans are paying for botched schemes; and the mountain of pandemic-induced medical waste that threatens health and the environment.

January 31, 2022
January 31, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a report that shows how, across the globe, corruption and human rights violations go hand in hand; a “shamelessly scandalous” scheme that threatens media freedom in the Philippines; the living hell of the Afghan LGBT community under Taliban rule; and the “positive endings” Chinese censors impose on Hollywood movies and even a local show.

January 24, 2022
January 24, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: an anti-poor “no vaccination, no ride” policy in the Philippines; a “sportswashing opportunity” for China; the bogus charges against a Cambodian opposition leader; and two rays of hope for Pakistan’s women.

January 17, 2022
January 17, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a cautiously positive report from Human Rights Watch; the math of misogyny in Indonesia; India’s draconian anti-terror law; how Cambodia keeps a lid on dissent; and the fight for the rights of migrant workers in Taiwan.

January 10, 2022
January 10, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: Cambodia’s strongman playing “rogue diplomat”; a welcome ban on child marriage in the Philippines; North Korea’s “boomerang defector”; and the weaponization of technology against Muslim women.

January 3, 2022
January 3, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a wave of hate speech and violence against India’s religious minorities; press freedom in tatters in Hong Kong; a horrifying Christmas massacre in Myanmar; and how the Taliban have revoked Afghan women’s hard-won rights.

December 27, 2021
December 27, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: Myanmar’s blood gemstones; Hong Kong’s “selection”; the failed talks on killer bots; and the need for safe, legal migration options for workers.

December 20, 2021
December 20, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the seamy side of a Chinese ultra-fast fashion leader; the “silencing of a Laotian son”; Kim Jong Un’s decade of abusive rule; and calls for change in a country where sexual violence regularly goes unpunished

December 13, 2021
December 13, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the widespread condemnation following Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction; the Nagaland killings that have revived debate about a controversial decades-old law; the other global infection; and Pakistan’s deadly blasphemy laws.

December 6, 2021
December 6, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a high point for China’s struggling #MeToo movement; confusion over a perplexing court ruling in Indonesia; growing awareness of the rights of the hijra in Bangladesh; and the price Pakistan’s children pay for dirty needles.

November 29, 2021
November 29, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: three women journalists who have held those in power to account and have paid a high price; why Thailand is no Land of Smiles for refugees; the plight of the “marriage migrants” in Taiwan; and another victory for Mother Nature Cambodia.

November 22, 2021
November 22, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: Modi’s volte-face on India’s contentious farm laws; the wealthy country where hunger hides behind closed doors; Pakistan’s “living ghosts”; and the life-saving importance of the porcelain throne.

November 15, 2021
November 15, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: how China’s “gray zone” strategy seems to be backfiring in Taiwan; the Asian countries clinging to capital punishment; the lethal weapons still claiming thousands of victims, often long after hostilities have ceased; and the “unconstitutional” calls for royal reform in Thailand.

November 8, 2021
November 8, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the possible end of China’s relentless 996 work hours, the killing and chilling of journalists, the urgent need to stamp out child labor in Asian farms, and the Burmese military’s history of arson attacks.

November 1, 2021
November 1, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about a lifeline for Afghan female students, the end of an unconstitutional ban in the Philippines, the plight of North Korean defectors in the South, and India’s cool roofs.

October 25, 2021
October 25, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about China’s continuing crackdown on peaceful religious practice, a small step for LGBTI people in India, the closure of a human rights watchdog’s operations in Hong Kong, and how the Greater Mekong Subregion and India offer a glimmer of hope for malaria elimination.

October 18, 2021
October 18, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about a simple yet powerful tool that is beyond the reach of many, Asia’s starving millions, the urgent need to revise Japan’s regressive transgender law, and a low-cost, low-input, and climate-resilient type of farming in India.

October 11, 2021
October 11, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the early impact of an offshore data tsunami, why girl children deserve a better normal, the Asian gig workers fighting for their rights, and the rain harvesters in a Nepalese town.

October 4, 2021
October 4, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the right to information laws across the region, Malaysia’s youth power, Filipino advocates pushing back against a proposed road to ruin, and the Indian lawyer who won the “alternative Nobel Prize.”

September 27, 2021
September 27, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the resiliency of LQBTQ activists in South Korea and Taiwan, the gatecrashing Cambodian prime minister, the Malaysian mothers fighting for their children’s citizenship rights, and China’s shadowy solar industry.

September 20, 2021
September 20, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the urgent need for safe childbirth, the dangers of “kinetic impact projectiles,” the never-ending battle for democracy and human rights, and a game-changing procurement system.

September 13, 2021
September 13, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about “the anaconda in the chandelier,” a spyware scandal, a dangerous place to stand up for the environment, and how people power scored a win for a Malaysian forest.

September 6, 2021
September 6, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the other global health threat that cuts life expectancies in the Asian region, the forgotten Afghan refugees in Indonesia, period poverty, and a study that shows how better pay for truck drivers in South Korea made the drivers — and the general public — safer.

August 30, 2021
August 30, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the pursuit of justice for the forcibly disappeared in Asia, the Rohingya’s quest for safe havens, lawbreaking law enforcers, and a doctor-entrepreneur who is retelling the story of health in Pakistan.

August 23, 2021
August 23, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the South Asian countries where children face extreme risk from climate change, how arbitrary detentions have fueled COVID-19 surges in Myanmar and Thai jails, China’s problematic family planning policies, and the Afghan women fighting the return to the dark days of harsh limits on their freedoms.

August 16, 2021
August 16, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the trail of rights violations that follows China’s Belt and Road projects, the two South Asian countries that are failing their daughters, how the Rohingya risk being left behind in the global COVID-19 vaccination race, and the raft of repressive measures that are keeping journalists in the region from their doing their jobs.

August 10, 2021
August 10, 2021

As the Delta variant spreads like wildfire in parts of Asia, we highlight news about Afghanistan’s swift descent into catastrophe, ASEAN Special Envoy Erywan Yusof’s tough assignment in defusing the Myanmar crisis, the severe challenges faced by indigenous peoples, a rare legal victory for online freedom in Thailand, the refusal of Taiwanese Olympians to use a name that exists on no map, and the Asian women athletes who are changing the game.

August 3, 2021
August 3, 2021

In this edition, we highlight news about the slogan that landed a Hong Kong protester in jail, the attacks and arrests Myanmar’s doctors face amid the pandemic, the factory fire that spotlights child labor and safety lapses in Bangladesh, and the marginalized Indian girls who are fighting child marriage.

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