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

October 31, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the return of a global killer; the appalling forced deportations in Malaysia and Thailand; China’s worldwide network of illegal police stations; and the future of farming in Bangladesh.

Global
The return of a global killer
Tuberculosis was the most lethal infectious disease in the world — with 1.5 million people dying from the disease each year — until COVID-19 eclipsed it. Now, TB reclaims that dubious distinction.

In 2021, TB-related deaths rose for the second consecutive year to 1.6 million, said the World Health Organization. This figure represents an increase by 14 percent in two years, according to the WHO. Four countries in Asia account for most of the estimated increase in TB deaths globally: India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Dr. Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, blamed the “pathetically low level” of funding for fighting TB for the surge in TB-related deaths. Global spending on essential TB services fell from US$6 billion in 2019 to US$5.4 billion in 2021. This represents less than half the global target of US$13 billion annually by 2022, says the WHO.

Dr. Mel Spigelman, president of the TB Alliance, blamed the lack of urgency around eliminating the preventable and curable disease on it being “a disease of the poor.” He said, “If rich people around the world were getting it, I think we would see a very different response.”

The WHO 2022 Global Tuberculosis Report says that an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB worldwide in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 10.1 million in 2020. Sixty-three percent of the people who developed TB last year were in southeast Asia (45%) and the Western Pacific region (18%).

Thirty high TB burden countries accounted for 87% of all estimated incident cases worldwide. Of these eight countries make up more than two-thirds of the global total, including India (28%), Indonesia (9.2%), China (7.4%), the Philippines (7.0%), Pakistan (5.8%), and Bangladesh (3.6%).
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Regional
A clarion call to end forced deportations
Malaysia and Thailand are not signatories to either the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. But both countries are obligated to uphold the principle of non-refoulement under customary international law. According to the OHCHR, “non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.”

However, non-refoulement has not stopped Malaysian and Thai authorities from forcibly deporting Myanmar’s most vulnerable back to their home country, putting them at risk of physical abuse and torture, sometimes resulting in death.

Malaysia hosts 185,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers — including 100,000 Muslim Rohingya and asylum seekers. In the past six months, the country has deported around 2,000 Burmese asylum seekers, according to Human Rights Watch. The UNHCR recently called on the Malaysian authorities to stop forcibly deporting asylum-seekers from Myanmar.

As of Sept. 30, the UNHCR in Thailand recorded at least 91,000 camp-based Myanmar refugees, most of whom are protracted refugees from Myanmar living along the Thailand-Myanmar border. Fortify Rights, a nongovernment group focused on Southeast Asia, has documented the forced return of Myanmar refugees to their home country. The Thai authorities have pushed back boats carrying passengers believed to be Rohingya refugees. They destroyed a cross-border footbridge used by Myanmar refugees fleeing deadly attacks in eastern Myanmar in March 2022.

Fortify Rights welcomes a new law, the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act B.E.2565 (2022), which includes a provision prohibiting the forced return of a person to a country where they may face torture or other forms of ill-treatment. This law is expected to counter torture and enforced disappearances

In the meantime, Malaysia and Thailand also lack laws to legitimize the status of refugees in their jurisdictions. Malaysian laws fail to distinguish between refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants. The same goes for Thai laws, reports VOA News. The lack of legal frameworks to protect people seeking sanctuary puts them at risk of arrest and forced deportation.
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China
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Unmasking secret ‘police stations’
Chinese dissident Wang Jingyu may have breathed a sigh of relief when he was granted political asylum in the Netherlands in May. Wang incurred the ire of the Chinese authorities over his online comments about the deadly border clashes between Chinese and Indian forces in 2020. He was accused of “subversion of state power.”

Wang’s joy was short-lived, though. He told The Guardian he was contacted by an “overseas service station” in Rotterdam as soon as he arrived.

“They asked me to go back to China to sort out my problems,” Wang said. “They also told me to think of my parents.” He said he later received threatening text messages and phone calls.

Two Dutch media outlets have found evidence that the station in Rotterdam and another station in Amsterdam are unofficial police outposts used by Beijing to harass dissidents in the European country.

The stations were first identified by Safeguard Defenders, a Spanish civil rights group, in a September report. The report states that Chinese authorities had opened 54 such illegal police stations in 25 cities across 21 countries.

The units were ostensibly created to allow Chinese nationals to renew driving licenses and change their civil status. But, according to Safeguard Defenders’ report, in reality they carry out “persuasion operations,” aimed at coercing those suspected of speaking out against the Chinese regime to return home. The human rights group said the stations persuaded 230,000 emigrants to return to China, sometimes to face criminal charges.

The report also said Chinese operations worldwide “eschew official police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods.”

A spokeswoman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry said the existence of the Chinese police outposts was illegal. China denied accusations that it runs “illegal” overseas police stations.

In Ireland, though, it’s telling that the Chinese government said it had complied with a request from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs “to close and cease operations” at the “police” station in Dublin’s city center.
Bangladesh
A Silver Lining
A lifeline for farmers
Water hyacinths are notorious worldwide for being aquatic pests. Not so in Bangladesh. Farmers in the south Asian country have turned the invasive plants into floating rafts for growing their own food, as well as fresh produce and saplings to sell, according to a Reuters report.

They have transformed the centuries-old farming technique into a tool to fight “the impact of global warming,” Digbijoy Hazra, an agriculture official in the Nazirpur sub-district of Pirojpur, told Reuters. Rising seas and storm flooding threaten more farmland in the low-lying country. Bangladesh is situated on the delta of two of the world’s biggest rivers: the Ganges and the Brahmaputra.

Farmers in the Pirojpur initially used floating farms as a stopgap measure during the five-month flooding season. However, nowadays, the area remains under water for as long as 10 months — and more land is being flooded. Bangladesh could lose nearly a fifth of its land area and almost a third of its food production by 2030, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The floating farms have become a lifeline for families. Hazra said these farms require less space than conventional farms and “could be the future.” Today, some 6,000 subsistence farmers across Pirojpur use floating farms. This number shows a significant increase from 2017, when there were only 4,500 farmers using this agricultural technique, Hazra said.
October 31, 2022
October 31, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the return of a global killer; the appalling forced deportations in Malaysia and Thailand; China’s worldwide network of illegal police stations; and the future of farming in Bangladesh.

October 17, 2022
October 17, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: a baby step forward for LGBTQ rights in Japan; a neglected epidemic in Cambodia; the countries in Asia that cling to the death penalty; and hope for mental health sufferers in India.

October 10, 2022
October 10, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the false narrative that endangers transgenders in Pakistan; why Indonesia is one of the most dangerous countries in which to attend a football game; education under attack in Asia; and the foiled debate on China’s widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

October 3, 2022
October 3, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the construction workers in Hong Kong who are dying on the job; the South Asian country where many ferry passengers risk drowning and death; the human rights defenders who risk reprisals; and a sweet victory for an under-supported changemaker in the Philippines.

September 26, 2022
September 26, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: sobering statistics about women’s lives on the brink; the country where women are stalked and killed; a blocked citizenship law in Nepal; and the faint silver lining in Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis.

September 19, 2022
September 19, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the global rise in forced marriages; the risks brought about by digital identity systems such as India’s Aadhar; the Southeast Asian country that doesn’t deserve a seat in the UN Human Rights Council; and a ray of hope for foreigners detained in Japan’s immigration centers.

September 12, 2022
September 12, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the alarming spike in house arrests under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rule; the community at risk of genocide in Afghanistan; the millions deprived of the right to read; and Cambodia’s learning gardens.

September 5, 2022
September 5, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: how extreme heat has led to occupational safety lapses worldwide; how North Korea used the coronavirus to increasingly repress the rights of its people; the weaponization of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act against peaceful protesters; and Thailand’s innovative approach to curb teenage pregnancy.

August 29, 2022
August 29, 2022

In this edition, we highlight news about the following: the real roadblocks to fair COVID-19 vaccine distribution; the first step to ending torture in Pakistan; a bittersweet victory for Singapore’s LGBT activists; and the campaign to combat China’s disinformation in Taiwan.

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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