Southeast Asia

Many young Cambodians have little knowledge about the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Bophana Center developed an app that provides free access to these historical events.

Instead of top-down reforms for the media, the countries in Southeast Asia need policies that prioritize the public’s interests.

Although ASEAN’s new consensus document on migration is a giant step towards safeguarding the rights of migrant workers, it still sticks to putting skilled professionals and lower-skilled migrants in separate silos.

How ASEAN deals with forced migrants shows in how far it is actually people-centered and people-oriented. This vulnerable group used to be integrated in the past. However, today it appears integration efforts are not truly inclusive.

Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Anyway the countries are planning to cover lacks in energy demand and supply mainly with coal. However, renewables from solar over biomass to wind have a huge potential in the region.

The public discourse in Indonesia has turned against LGBT people. However, behind closed doors, the Indonesian government still supports projects for LGBT groups.

Competing trade agreements and planned infrastructure investments are dilemmas that ASEAN can only successfully solve if they approach the challenges as group that lets go if its consensus decision-making and allows for countries´ flexible participation.

Despite its diversity, ASEAN member states have one common trait: state repression. This is in contrast to ASEAN´s aspiration to be people-centered. How repression looks on the ground can illustrate the example of the Bersih movement for fair elections in Malaysia.