<p>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;authorities should drop&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/06/workers-claiming-they-had-to-sleep-with-the-chickens-face-thai-court-charges-burmese-migrants">criminal defamation charges</a>&nbsp;against 14 Burmese migrant workers who alleged that their employer violated their labor rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Proceedings in the case will begin in Don Muang Magistrates Court in Bangkok on June 7, 2017.</p>

<p>A Thai mining company operating in Myanmar has filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against a Thai journalist for reporting alleged environmental damage.</p> <p>On 14 May 2017, Reporters Without Borders, journalists, and civil society groups from Thailand and Myanmar issued a joint statement to support Pratch Rujivanarom, a Nation Multimedia Group journalist.</p> <p>The group demands that Myanmar Pongpipat Co Ltd (MPC), a Thai mining company operating in Myanmar, withdraw lawsuits filed against Pratch and The Nation.</p>

<p>What are the dreams of families who migrated from Shan State and currently reside in Thailand? Many families hope to be reunited with family members in their home country; but there are many families who hope to begin new lives here, in Thailand. &nbsp;While Shan children have been growing up in Thai society and feel that Thailand is their home, how should the Thai policies on citizenship and the status of stateless people be adjusted to the needs of this cross-border population? &nbsp;These issues are addressed in the following report.</p> <p></p>

<p>A provincial court in southern Thailand has sentenced six people, including the President of the Kantang Fishing Association (Trang Province), to 14 years in prison for human trafficking. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 17 March 2017, the Provincial Court of Trang sentenced Sompol Jirotemontree, President of the Kantang Fishery Association and managing partner of Boonlap Fishery Limited Partnership (BFLP), to 14 years in jail for violating the 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.</p> <p>Sompol and five other people were indicted for trafficking and abusing 15 migrant workers from Myanmar in 2015.</p>

<p>In a sign of what the future may offer, two major reports on Myanmar’s education system released by <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjpz7601aPSAhVKo48KHaUfA-IQFggcMAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fthailand.savethechildren.net%2Fsites%2Fthailand.savethechildren.net%2Ffiles%2Flibrary%2FModel%2520of%2520Education%2520in%2520Hard-To-Reach%2520Areas-Final.compressed-2_0.pdf&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOB0yjo8c_ZvRqDs3a6lqUJ9WMNA">Save the Children</a> and the <a> </a></p>

<p>We call on all parties to find a meaningful solution to the problems in the Rakhine State of Myanmar so that there is everlasting peace. Given the way things have unfolded in the Rakhine State over the last few years, especially the recent episodes of violence which has left hundreds of people displaced, their houses burnt, it certainly does not augur well for the future of a Myanmar that is gradually transitioning towards democracy.</p>

<p>Burmese authorities should urgently provide information on the whereabouts and well-being of two ethnic Kachin Baptist leaders who were apparently forcibly disappeared in Northern Shan State, Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights said today. Langjaw Gam Seng, 35, and Dumdaw Nawng Lat, 65, who had guided journalists reporting on Burmese airstrikes that allegedly severely damaged a Catholic church, were last seen on December 24, 2016 traveling to a military base.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On 29 December 2016,&nbsp;Mr. Sai Kein, a migrant worker&nbsp;from Myanmar, has authorized a representative to bring the case to the Labour Court of Samut Sakhon against the Social Security Office in Nakhon Pathom&nbsp;as defendant no.&nbsp;1&nbsp;and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund Committee, defendant no.&nbsp;2. It has stemmed from that the WCF Committee&nbsp;had issued a decision no. NT&nbsp;0030.1/33948&nbsp;dated&nbsp;18&nbsp;November 2016 on ‘the result of the appeal regarding the directive on compensation’ which denied Mr.</p>

<p>The&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1482562605805000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZeUzc5ZEnIoNH0zAMaHyBEI9N4w" href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma" target="_blank">Burmese</a>&nbsp;military has conducted a campaign of arson, killings, and rape against ethnic Rohingya that has threatened the lives of thousands more, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p>From 4:30-6:30 pm on 17 December 2016, SEA Junction will screen the documentary by Mynmar director, editor and produce Thet Oo Maung “Sound of Silence”. The film’s storyline, follows former Tatmadaw soldier Saw Aye Thein as he adjusts to life after losing both his legs to a landmine . A poignant meditation on the experiences of people with disabilities in Myanmar.&nbsp;&nbsp;This&nbsp;21 minutes long film was screened at “Human Rights and Human Dignity International Film Festival, 2014” in 2014. In 2015, It was screened in Festival Film Dokumentor in Indonesia.</p>

<p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/satellite-imagery/2016/12/09/burma-satellite-imagery&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1481694102952000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHRKGwM0icZSySCtnQjyHD566-nwg" href="https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/satellite-imagery/2016/12/09/burma-satellite-imagery" target="_blank">Satellite imagery</a>&nbsp;and interviews with refugees place responsibility for burnings of Rohingya villages in Burma’s Rakhine State squarely with the Burmese military, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<ul> <li>Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned</li> <li>Lack of water, food and medical care</li> <li>Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid</li> <li>Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages</li> </ul> <p><img alt="" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5833/30424619304_89d4aed1ee_c.jpg" /></p>