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 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.

Malaysia
A setback for mothers fighting against an unequal law
For decades, Malaysian mothers have been waging a campaign against the discriminatory Article 14(1)(b) of the country’s constitution which gives fathers the automatic right to confer citizenship on their children born abroad – but omits any mention of mothers. The unequal law prevents Malaysian moms from gaining access to residency, education, and health care for their children.

Sabeena Syed Jafer Hussain Zaidi was one such mother. She spent 14 years fighting to obtain citizenship for her two sons and two daughters who were born abroad. The long wait for the children’s citizenship ate up the family’s savings and kept the family apart, reports Malay Mail.

Zaidi did not live to see the fulfillment of her wish of citizenship for her children. Last March, she succumbed to post-surgery complications.

On Aug. 5, the Malaysian mothers suffered a setback when a high court ruled that they can’t confer citizenship to children born outside the country. The ruling overturned the September 2021 court ruling granting Malaysian women the same right as men to pass on their citizenship to their children.

Of the three judges, only one, S. Nantha Balan, said that the law in question was discriminatory as it violated the equality provision and went against international law, reports Free Malaysia Today. The two other judges ruled that the word “father” in the Federal Constitution applied only to biological fathers, not to mothers or both parents.

Despite the ruling, advocates are not throwing in the towel. The lawyers of the advocacy group Family Frontiers said they would take their case to Malaysia’s highest court.

According to the global rights group Equality Now, Malaysia is one of just 28 countries that still retain unequal citizenship laws affecting mothers.
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Japan
A breeding ground for rampant abuse
On paper, Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program aims to provide workers from developing countries with skills. On the ground, though, the program has fallen short of its lofty goal, perpetuated a form of modern slavery, and become a breeding ground for human rights violations.

Critics say that under the program, “most of the interns wind up doing repetitive work that does not teach them anything of marketable value for when they return to their home countries,” reports The Diplomat. Worse, the program is rife with human rights violations and serves as a cover for companies to import cheap labor.

Japan introduced the program in 1993 to bring young workers from developing Asian countries to Japanese farms and enterprises. By the end of 2021, some 280,000 foreign trainees were working in various fields, reports The Mainichi Shimbun.

However, violations of labor laws, including illegal levels of overtime, have been found in 70 percent of the businesses hiring trainees that have been subjected to the labor ministry’s supervision and administrative guidance.

Over the years, trainees have come forward with stories of rampant abuses ranging from dismissals to harassment and unpaid wages. Since trainees are not allowed to switch jobs for three years, they may be trapped in dismal work conditions. In one documented case, NHK World reports, a Vietnamese trainee at a construction company suffered two years of physical abuse at the hands of his Japanese coworkers.

Inadequate support for the trainees has left them vulnerable to harm. In another case, a Vietnamese trainee became pregnant and believed a rumor that she would, as a result, be sent home. She hid her pregnancy from coworkers and killed her newborn baby.

Last year, 7,167 foreign trainees in Japan went missing, according to the country’s Immigration Services Agency. Experts believe they abandoned their placements to search for better-paying jobs to help repay their huge debts.

A recent government report revealed that more than half of the trainees — 55 percent — borrowed an average of about 520,000 yen (US$3,907) before arriving in Japan, mainly to pay the sending institutions or intermediaries covering their expenses. Vietnamese trainees are saddled with the most debt. They owe an average sum of about 670,000 yen (US$5,031).

The contentious program landed the country in Tier 2 of the US State Department’s annual anti-human trafficking report. The report pointed out that the government “did not take any measures to hold recruiters and employers accountable for labor trafficking crimes under this system.”

On July 29, the Japanese government said it will launch a full-scale review of the flawed program by the end of the year.
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Bangladesh
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The heavy toll of water scarcity
Bangladesh is paying a steep price for mismanaging its water resources.

The aquifers serving the capital Dhaka and other areas are being depleted by one of the highest groundwater extraction rates in the world, reports Mongabay. About 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population relies on groundwater for drinking water.

However, the country struggles to provide enough drinking water for its inhabitants, in large part because of pollution. Experts say improper e-waste management in Bangladesh is contaminating the water with heavy and toxic base metals.

The country’s garment industry — its main dollar earner — is a key water guzzler. Some 800 washing, dyeing, and finishing factories use as much as 300 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of fabric. This shocking amount is six times more water than what is prescribed internationally, reports Mongabay.

The water crisis has affected the Chittagong Hill Tracts area of southeastern Bangladesh, where deforestation has worsened water scarcity in all three districts, reports The New Humanitarian.

Nearly 800,000 people lack regular access to water during the summer. Women and girls bear the brunt of finding water for their family’s daily needs. As a result, more girls miss school than boys.

The little water that is found is often contaminated with sewage, which has led to a spike in waterborne illnesses. At least 11 people died from diarrhea in June in the district of Bandarban, while more than 50 people became seriously ill.

Many people are forced to buy bottled water, which increases their expenses. Farmers earn less because they fail to grow crops properly.
Global
When women eat last and least
As food prices rise around the world, women such as Nichelle Arig in the Philippines are bearing the brunt of hunger. Arig budgets around PHP100 (US$1.80) of her husband’s salary of PHP380 (US$6.84) per day for food, reports GMA News.

The amount is just enough to buy one and a half kilos of rice and a few vegetables. So Arig often skips meals. She says, “Of course, the children must eat first. They are hungry, they need to eat first.”

Women are responsible for 90 percent of preparing and buying food. However, they are eating last and least.

An analysis by humanitarian organization CARE shows that 150 million more women than men were hungry in 2021. In a press release, CARE says its analysis shows “for the first time, a global link between gender inequality and food insecurity.” The report shows that across 109 countries, as gender inequality goes up, food security goes down. 

Food prices are high across the globe. However, low- and middle-income countries are getting hit the hardest, says the World Bank in a new food security update. About 94 percent of low-income countries, 89 percent of lower-middle-income countries, and 89 percent of upper-middle-income countries have nominal food inflation levels above 5 percent compared with the previous year, reports Devex. The share of high-income countries with high inflation also increased.

The bank says that seven countries face a particular risk of overlapping food and debt crises. One of these is Afghanistan. As the country’s economy has unraveled, women in Kabul are forced to beg for bread outside bakeries, reports NPR.
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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