Pressure on Thailand Grows as 200 Myanmar Deportees Fed into Junta War Machine

> A Thai immigration center accused of aiding the #Myanmar junta’s conscription drive deported another 200 Myanmar nationals to regime authorities in Kawthaung town, Tanintharyi Region, in late February, sparking international protests. All but four of the deportees were reportedly conscripted by the regime. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/pressure-on-thailand-grows-as-200-myanmar-deportees-fed-into-junta-war-machine.html #SouthEastAsia #Thailand

https://www.europesays.com/1755809/ Malaysia and Japan to develop green energy projects, Ishiba eyes defence ties #AnwarIbrahim #ASEAN #CarbonCapture #Energy #Gaza #HydrogenEnergy #Ishiba #japan #KualaLumpur #Malaysia #Myanmar #Petronas #Putrajaya #Sarawak #SouthChinaSea #SoutheastAsia

The fact that the deaths of six tourists (all westerners) in #SoutheastAsia (#Laos) is a far bigger story than the 174 #Rohingya who died when their boat sank last week says a lot about how the world values some lives over others.

Both were, technically, groups of travelers. One made up of privileged members, with western passports, whose deaths will likely results in extensive investigation.

The others, nameless, unwanted stateless #refugees left to fend for themselves.

North #Vietnamese #activists meet in the #NamCan forest, wearing #masks to hide their identities from one another in case of capture and interrogation (1972).
Getty Images archive.

#AsianMastodon #USVietnamInvasion #Vietnam #VietnamWar #TootSEA #WorldHistory #VietnameseHistory #SouthEastAsia #SouthAsianHistory #History #ResistanceWomen

The videos posted to Facebook all have the same look and feel: The subject looks directly at the camera, joins his hands in a sampeah – a #Cambodian gesture of respect – and apologizes.

Examples from last month – Cambodian #journalist Mech Dara and overseas #activist Hay Vanna – were just the latest additions to a long list of activists and #critics forced by #threats or legal action to recant and pledge their loyalty to the ruling #CambodianPeoplesParty (CPP).

Those are some of the most high-profile instances. Several other opposition activists told #RadioFreeAsia that they were forced to pledge allegiance to the ruling party to maintain the safety of their family or to avoid politically motivated criminal charges.

https://www.rfa.org/english/cambodia/2024/11/17/cambodia-opposition-defections/

#AsianMastodon #PoliticalBlackmail #Censorship #Coercion #Cambodia #Dissenters #WarOnActivists #TootSEA #AsiaNews #SouthEastAsia #Defectors

Professor Zachary Abuza, an expert on South-east Asian security, warned of a “revitalisation of #TerrorNetworks, renewed terror attacks, #Radicalisation and fund-raising for militant groups” serving as “a catalyst for... disparate #jihadist groups in #SouthEastAsia that are seeking both a cause and charismatic leader to rally around”. #Israel #ASEAN

#Washington ‘risks losing the street’ in Muslim S-E Asia as #Gaza war stirs anti-US sentiments | The Straits Times
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/washington-risks-losing-the-street-in-muslim-s-e-asia-as-gaza-war-stirs-anti-us-sentiments