<p>Governments across Asia must register all children at birth to effectively address the issue of stateless people, says global child rights organisation Plan International. </p>

<p>How sound is the dominant belief amongst educated and wealthy Thais that poor and less educated folks are essentially stupid, corrupt, violence and a drag on national progress?</p>

<p>Members of Peuthai party cannot deny the fact that one of the key factors which lead to it winning the recent election came from people&rsquo;s anger towards political injustice since the 2006 coup.</p>

<p>Norawase Yotpiyasathien, 23, a business administration student who graduated this summer from Kasetsart University, was arrested last week for his online blog posts. He is the youngest and the latest victim of Thailand's l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law, and his arrest has caused deep dismay among many students.</p>

<p>A second brutal mob attack on Indonesia&rsquo;s Ahmadiyya last week, as well as the harsh sentencing of an Ahmadi victim in a previous attack, are further proof of a troubling downward spiral in religious freedom in Indonesia. Freedom House calls on the Indonesian government to step up its efforts to protect its minority faith communities through effective law enforcement, appropriate and unbiased application of the law, and an active role in promoting religious tolerance at all levels.</p>

<p>(Bangkok, August 16, 2011) &ndash; The new Thai government should make human rights a priority when it issues its inaugural policy statement to parliament, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on August 15, 2011. Yingluck is expected to give her statement to parliament on August 24, 2011.</p>

<p>Since 2009, a number of migrant workers from Burma have undergone nationality verification process and become legal migrant workers in Thailand. In almost two years of the implementation, the policy has been set out clearly by the Royal Thai Government to pursue the legalization process and to ensure that migrant workers passing through the nationality verification attain equal rights to their Thai counterparts, particularly regarding social security. </p>

<p><em>Two photo books document the movement that swept away the coup-makers</em></p>

<p>Reporters Without Borders condemns the continuing detention of the journalist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who was held for more than the 84 days allowed under the criminal code before being formally charged on 26 July on two l&egrave;se-majest&eacute; counts. No date has been set for his trial, at which he could get a combined sentence of up to 30 years in prison.</p>

<p><em>New Thai Government Demonstrates Disregard for Rights</em></p> <p>(New York, August 10, 2011) &ndash; The Chinese government should immediately allow access to Nur Muhammed, an ethnic Uighur who was handed over to Chinese officials in Bangkok on August 6, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. China&rsquo;s record of torture, disappearance, and arbitrary detention of Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority, puts Muhammed at grave risk of torture, Human Rights Watch said.</p>

<p>A court in Bangkok on 10 August 2011 sentenced a torture victim to two years in prison for having spoken out against his alleged torturers. Police Major General Chakthip Chaijinda brought the criminal complaint (Black Case No. 2161/2552) against Mr Suderueman Malae, one of the clients of forcibly abducted and disappeared human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. The police major general claimed that he was falsely implicated in the torture of Suderueman and a number of other men.</p>

<p>Numbers of villagers fleeing Burma Army atrocities have soared to over 30,000 during recent intensified attacks against the Shan State Army North (SSA-N), causing a dire humanitarian crisis in northern Shan State.</p>