<p>International pressure is building on Bangladesh and Myanmar to take urgent measures to save boatloads of stranded asylum seekers in danger of death by drowning or starvation in the Bay of Bengal.&nbsp; The ramshackle boats, thought to be loaded with Riphab refugees from Thailand, are organized by people smugglers, who prey on the migrants, often selling them into virtual slavery if they manage to make landfall undetected.&nbsp;</p>

<div>The boat people from the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh has become a hot potato among the Southeast Asian countries.&nbsp;Prachatai talked with Vivian Tan, the spokesperson of the the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Office in Bangkok, about the role of UNHCR in the issue. &nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<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>Since the coup on 22 May 2014, about a hundred pro-democracy activists have fled the country because they may end up in jails due to political charges. Aum Neko, a provocative transgender activist, fled to France after the coup and is beginning her new life. Aum tells about her long-term plan abraod and how she will continue to campaign for the Thai democracy.&nbsp;</div> <p></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>

<p>13 May 2015 -- Southeast Asian governments must step up urgent search and rescue efforts to ensure that thousands of people stranded in boats are not left in dire circumstances and at risk of death, Amnesty International said, as another boat carrying hundreds of people thought to be migrants and asylum seekers in desperate conditions is currently awaiting rescue off the Thai coast.</p>

<div><a href="http://www.khaosodenglish.com/index.php">Khaosod English</a>: Thai officials say they have uncovered yet another abandoned camp used by human smugglers to detain Rohingya refugees near the Malaysian border, the largest of five sites found in a sweep that started at the beginning of the month.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>According to police, the jungle camp is located three kilometers away from the first site found by security officers in Songkhla province on 1 May. </div>

<div>In May 2014 Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha stated that he wanted “to create an enabling environment that would facilitate the holding of elections” which “ will be free and fair, so that [it] can become a solid foundation for a complete Thai democracy”.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Unfortunately in practice the human rights situation in Thailand is moving in the opposite direction and every action by the military government seems to have the specific purpose of silencing dissent and eliminating any effective opposition. </div>

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Press Statement</strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong>The alleged torture of Criminal Court bomb suspects</strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong>For immediate release on 21 March 2015</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The public statement issued by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) on 17 March 2015 has elicited gross denials from the authorities. Herewith, TLHR would like to explain to the public that Section 4 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. </div>

<div>The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Udon Thani Environmental Conservation Group about the intensification of ongoing threats and surveillance of human rights defenders who are members of the group. They have been engaged in a long-standing struggle for community participation in decisions about potash mining in Udon Thani province. </div>

<div> <div>BANGKOK &nbsp;(13 &nbsp;FEBRUARY &nbsp;2015) &nbsp;- The United Nations Human Rights Office for South &nbsp;East &nbsp;Asia &nbsp;(OHCHR) urges the Government to promptly investigate the killing &nbsp;of &nbsp;a &nbsp;land &nbsp;rights activist in the south of Thailand and increase security measures for the members of his community.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On &nbsp;11 &nbsp;February, Mr. </div></div>

<div>The military banned a human rights lawyer from meeting a red-shirt suspect accused of publicising the fake Royal Household statement about King Bhumibol, citing martial law.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The statement, falsely claimed to be from the Bureau of the Royal Household, was distributed on Monday night. </div>