Cambodia

| VIETNAM

Arrested in the province of Tra Vinh on charges of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’. Almost 1.3 million Khmer Krom live in a part of Vietnam that was once south-eastern Cambodia. Activists tell Radio Free Asia: ‘The Vietnamese government wants to prevent the expression of our cultural identity’.


A member of the Missions Étrangères de Paris, the clergyman died in France at the age of 85. In 1975, he was among the last foreigners to leave the country whose ideological shift he later recounted in "Cambodia: Year Zero", a book that became a point of reference for Pol Pot's regime. Back in Cambodia in 1993, he accompanied the rebirth of the Cambodian Church, also thanks to his translations of the Bible and catechisms in the local language.

| 17/01/2025
| CAMBODIA

A report by UNICEF and Cambodia’s Ministry of the Environment was published yesterday highlighting the issue. According to the Children's Climate Risk Index (CCRI), children in Cambodia are most exposed to extreme heat and flooding in rural areas. For the authorities, the findings will provide guidelines for government action.

| 15/01/2025
| CAMBODIA
by Steve Suwannarat

On the anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, the former prime minister, who has transferred power to his son Hun Manet, calls for new law against those who undermine the country’s stability. Meanwhile, a former MP from a disbanded opposition party was killed in a mysterious ambush in the Thai capital, a few hours after crossing the border by bus.

| 08/01/2025
| CAMBODIA

Veteran reporter Chhoeung Chheung, 63, was shot in the abdomen. Police arrested a suspect, but claims the attack was due to a "personal dispute" rather than the journalist’s ongoing investigations. Human rights groups are unconvinced by this version of events. Since 1994, at least 15 journalists have been killed in the Southeast Asian country.

| 06/12/2024
| CAMBODIA

A Cambodian court sentenced the women to four years in prison, with two years suspended. For the Cambodian government, they were involved in human trafficking, while for the Philippine embassy they are victims. It is unclear what fate awaits the children once they are born. In the past Cambodia forced dozens of surrogate mothers to raise the children, initially intended for other couples.

| 05/12/2024
| CAMBODIA – PHILIPPINES

Thailand repatriated the activists a day after detaining them. Once back in Cambodia, they were imprisoned in three different facilities. Human Rights Watch slammed the operation, lamenting that authoritarian governments in Southeast Asia routinely expel political prisoners to their country of origin. Next year, Thailand will have a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

| 02/12/2024
| THAILAND – CAMBODIA
Editor's choices
 
by Gianni Criveller
AsiaNews director spoke today in Rome at the conference “The Spirit knows where he takes us” organised by the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute. The “triple dialogue” refers to the path of interiority, the commitment ...
| 01/04/2025
| VATICAN - ASIA
 
Some rural areas have been as badly affected as cities. Almost 100 people have reportedly died and 3,000 homes destroyed in a well-known tourist destination. Residents were already hard at work recovering from the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in September ...
| 01/04/2025
| MYANMAR
 
Pope Francis has approved his canonisation, together with that of Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan, killed in the Armenian genocide. A lay catechist, To Rot was killed in 1945 for defending marriage against the Japanese who, in order to ingratiate themselves ...
| 31/03/2025
| VATICAN – OCEANIA
 
by Daniele Frison
The former Minister of Justice was unjustly detained for 2,454 days for her opposition to the former president's drug war methods. The families of the victims had hoped for a mandate from the International Criminal Court. Today Duterte supporters ...
| 28/03/2025
| PHILIPPINES
 
by Dario Salvi
Khalil Sayegh, originally from Gaza and co-founder of Agora Initiative, talks about a population tired of war and the domination of the extremist movement. Today the protests are more evident because Hamas is weakened and cannot ‘repress them with ...
| 28/03/2025
| ISRAEL - PALESTINE
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The Israeli academic and scholar of “intractable conflicts” talked to AsiaNews about the way the Gaza war is going and its consequences for Israeli society. Talking about peace today is considered a threat. Seventeen-year-olds “don't ...
| 18/03/2025
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
by Giorgio Licini *
The parliament of Papua New Guinea has approved an amendment that identifies the nation as an ‘independent Christian state’. Fr Giorgio Licini (Caritas Papua New Guinea): it risks being an empty statement, without resolving the ...
| 18/03/2025
| PAPUA NEW GUINEA
 
by A Voice from Shanghai
A Catholic voice from Shanghai reminds AsiaNews of the case of the auxiliary bishop who resigned from the Patriotic Association when he was ordained and has been living in seclusion ever since. It was hoped that the tormented appointment of Mgr Shen ...
| 18/03/2025
| CHINA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”