Exodus of healthcare workers from poor countries worsening, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Poorer countries are increasingly losing healthcare workers to wealthier ones as the latter seek to shore up their own staff losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes through active recruitment, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The trend for nurses and other staff to leave parts of Africa or South-East Asia for […]
“Without sediment, we are done”: How dams built by China starve the Mekong River Delta of vital sediment
KANUPRIYA KAPOOR, SIMON SCARR AND PHUONG NGUYEN, of Reuters, report on the impact of Chinese-built hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River Delta…
Cyber crime: Asian tech workers held captive in scam factories
ANURADHA NAGARAJ and NANCHANOK WONGSAMUTH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how tech-savvy Asians are being lured with fake job adverts and then forced to defraud strangers through crypto and romance scams…
Snapshot: Rice field in Laos
See ANNA HOCH-KENNEY’s image…
South-East Asia’s coronavirus surge prompts shutdowns and alarm
Reuters A sharp rise in coronavirus cases from new variants in parts of South-East Asia that had been less affected by the pandemic has prompted new restrictions, factory closures and attempts to rapidly scale up vaccination programs across the region. The number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has soared past India’s on a […]
Migrant workers face tough quarantine in Thailand as COVID-19 cases surge
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Forced to quarantine at his factory as COVID-19 cases surge in Thailand, migrant worker Hein Thet Zaw has spent the last 10 days sleeping in a tent, trying to ward off hunger with meagre supplies of rice and boiled eggs. “Burmese workers eat a lot of rice, but what we get […]
Thailand offers work permits to undocumented migrants to curb COVID-19
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Thailand on Tuesday said it would allow undocumented migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work in the country legally for about two years to curb the spread of COVID-19. Migrants have to sign up online and be registered by an employer before mid-September in order to receive a work […]
THAILAND: NEW RULES, NEW DEBTS – SLAVERY FEARS FOR MIGRANT WORKERS
MATT BLOMBERG and NANCHANOK WONGSAMUTH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how Thailand is tackling labour rights for migrant workers – despite resistance from some…
SNAPSHOT: CANOES ON A BEACH, LAOS
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Laos has “mortgaged” future at expense of people, UN expert says
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The Laos government has prioritised big infrastructure projects including dams, railways lines and mines that have benefited few people and uprooted the poor from their land, said the top independent expert on poverty at the United Nations. While the South-East Asian nation has seen “remarkable” economic growth over the last two […]