<p>Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia today deplored the undemocratic process leading up to this Sunday’s referendum on a new constitution in Thailand, raising concerns over harassment, arrests, and intimidation of those seeking to campaign against the draft charter.</p>

<p>JAKARTA, 25 April 2016 — Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia have expressed deep concerns about Thailand’s new draft constitution, as well as a planned referendum on the charter, highlighting an apparent effort by the military government to strengthen and prolong its control over Thai politics and stifle open debate.</p>

<p>As the Lower House of Parliament convenes after the dramatic purge of speaker Shwe Mann, it has wasted no time&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=907202&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Felection%2Fnews%2Fburma-parliament-approves-contentious-race-and-religion-bills">passing two laws</a>&nbsp;that form the package of discriminatory protection of race and religion bills.</p>

<div>JAKARTA, 14 July 2015 – The Cambodian National Assembly’s passage of the highly controversial Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organizations (LANGO) represents a grave threat to independent civil society and constitutes a failure of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to embrace a democratic, consultative approach to policymaking, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“The ruling party’s decision to ram this legislation through the National Assembly undermines the fundamentals of a multiparty democratic system,” said APHR Chair </div>

<div>JAKARTA, 8 July 2015 – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) today called on the Cambodian government to abandon its proposed Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organizations (LANGO), arguing that the ruling party has pursued a fundamentally undemocratic course in attempting to secure the passage of a law that threatens freedom of association and expression in Cambodia.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Barring major revisions, this law constitutes a clear threat to the fundamental rights of all Cambodians, in direct violation of Cambodia’s obligations under the International Cov </div>

<div>JAKARTA, 26 June 2015 – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) called on Thai authorities to drop all charges and immediately release students arrested in Bangkok today, adding that the time had come for others in the region to take a stand alongside those fighting for democracy in Thailand.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Fourteen students were arrested this evening, according to reports, charged with taking part in a gathering of more than five people—an act outlawed under the National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO) order no. 3/2558. </div>

<div>BANGKOK, 29 May -- Parliamentarians from ASEAN member states, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar expressed serious concern today after a meeting on irregular migration in Southeast Asia failed to address in any meaningful way the root causes of the region’s migrant crisis.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Lawmakers from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said they were dismayed and disappointed that representatives from ASEAN member states failed to publicly discuss the persecution of the Rohingya, shamefully bowing to pressures from a military government directly r </div>

<div>JAKARTA, 27 May 2015 – The Myanmar government’s passage of a controversial new “population control” law is yet another in a long line of restrictive and illegal measures as part of a policy of persecution and ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population, ASEAN lawmakers said today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Rooted in Myanmar’s rising Buddhist-nationalist extremism, the Population Control Act will likely &nbsp;be used to enforce targeted reproductive restrictions against vulnerable minorities. </div>

<p>JAKARTA,&nbsp;<span data-term="goog_1485817195" tabindex="0">22 May 2015</span>&nbsp;– In the year since the Thai military staged a coup to overthrow the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand has witnessed the entrenchment of authoritarianism and its new leaders have increasingly reneged on their international human rights obligations, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.<br />&nbsp;</p>

<div>JAKARTA, 21 May 2015 – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights today welcomed the decision by Indonesia and Malaysia to provide temporary shelter to 7,000 migrants stranded at sea, but continued to demand that regional leaders address the state-sponsored persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar that lies at the root of the mass exodus.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Temporary shelter is better than floating coffins, but this agreement is far from what is needed to combat the growing crisis,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of parliament in Malaysia. </div>

<div>JAKARTA, 13 May 2015 – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) today criticized Indonesia’s approach to dealing with the influx of migrants in the midst of an escalating regional refugee crisis.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The condemnation follows Indonesian authorities’ decision to tow a boat carrying around 400 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh back into international waters after it arrived off the coast of Aceh province early Monday morning.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Towing migrants out to sea and declaring that they aren’t your problem anymore is not a solution to th </div>

<p>JAKARTA, 8&nbsp;May 2015 — The horrific discovery of dozens of bodies of trafficking victims in southern Thailand represents yet another disturbing outcome of a collective lack of leadership on the part of regional governments to address the pervasive problem of human trafficking and the unfolding tragedy for Rohingya Muslims, said ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) this week.<br />&nbsp;</p>