Satellite images provided by PlanetLabs Inc. and analyzed by RFA show the rapid demolition of Kashgar Bazaar between April 4, 2022 (L) and May 4, 2022 (R). The travel guide Lonely Planet advises visitors to Kashgar, China, to fight the crowds that gather at its Sunday Grand Bazaar and let their senses loose to the
Authorities in Kashgar allegedly paid Muslim Uyghur men to dance outside the most famous mosque in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a performance that was filmed and released by state media ahead of an anticipated visit by the United Nations human rights chief later this month. Kashgar locals told RFA
Lao officials will soon submit plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant to the Mekong River Commission for review, but villagers whose livelihoods would be hurt by the construction worry they will be left out of the process. “We can’t tell you what day or when exactly we’re going to do that,” said
Costly and time-consuming customs-clearing procedures put in place as part of China’s zero-COVID-19 restrictions are making it difficult for Lao traders to export products via the new Laos-China Railway, Lao officials and people involved in cross-border trade said. Lao authorities have been negotiating with their Chinese counterparts and officials with the rail company for months
Costly and time-consuming customs-clearing procedures put in place as part of China’s zero-COVID-19 restrictions are making it difficult for Lao traders to export products via the new Laos-China Railway, Lao officials and people involved in cross-border trade said. Lao authorities have been negotiating with their Chinese counterparts and officials with the rail company for months
Cambodian’s autocratic Prime Minister Hun Sen has doled out at least 900 hectares of land reclaimed from one of the last large natural lakes in Phnom Penh to his sister, a wealthy tycoon and ally, and top military officials all benefiting from the largesse, according to a domestic land rights organization. The privatization and filling
National parkland and protected forests have been shrinking slightly in southern Laos, not the work of the usual culprit — illegal loggers — but because residents are encroaching upon the land to grow cassava and other crops. In the provinces of Sekong, one of the most impoverished areas of Laos, and neighboring Saravan, farmers desperate
A prominent Cambodian activist fled to safety after receiving a death threat allegedly for joining street protests, while a member of a political party challenging Prime Minister Hun Sun’s government is also on the run after a court ordered him to appear on what he says are false charges. Five years after strongman Hun Sen
Nearly 100 religious buildings have been destroyed in two regions and two states in Myanmar more than a year after the military seized control from the elected government and plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos and violence, according to data compiled by RFA. The 97 religious buildings that have been demolished since the Feb.
Chinese developers are preparing to begin work on two major hydropower dams to be built on the Mekong River in Laos, projects government officials hope will bring the impoverished country closer to its goal of become the battery of Southeast Asia. But compensation and relocation packages for villagers affected by the massive infrastructure projects are
