Migrant workers

CAMBODIA: Police allegedly extort bribes in arrest in Rattanakiri province

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the police allegedly ordered parents to pay a bribe of 150000 riels (US$37.5) each if their sons were not to be arrested after these youths had damaged a party sign in Soeung commune, Bor Keo district, Rattankiri province. On 2 July 2008, they arrested […]

SOUTH KOREA: Two newly elected migrants’ union leaders again deported

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that two migrants workers, newly elected as president and vice president of Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU) were again arrested on 2 May 2008 and deported without due process on May 15. CASE DETAILS: Abdus Sabur has been involved in the struggle for migrant […]

UPDATE (South Korea): Government finally deported three migrant activists without due process

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been confirmed that three activists of a union who had been detained were finally deported from South Korea in the early morning of 13 December 2007. It is reported that the immigration officers falsely informed their legal representatives that they did not have any plans to […]

SOUTH KOREA: Arrest of migrant union leaders due to their activities; waiting for forcible deportation

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that three leaders of the Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU) were arrested and detained on 27 November 2007, by immigration officials outside their homes and workplace in South Korea. Although they have been arrested on the basis of their undocumented status, it is alleged that […]

GENERAL APPEAL (Thailand): Government imposing policies further discriminating against migrant workers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the government of Thailand is imposing policies which further deprive migrant workers of their rights. The policies, particularly on migrant workers giving birth in the country, are discriminatory as they effectively excuse the government from any responsibility to ensure the welfare of […]

UPDATE (Thailand): Two influential persons imprisoned for rape and murder; police officer implicated in one crime still unpunished

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that two influential persons in Thailand have received long sentences for rape and murder of migrant workers. However, a police officer who assisted the offender in the rape case has not been punished as the case against her remains pending. BUSINESSMAN JAILED […]

SOUTH KOREA: Fire kills and injures 55 migrant workers in foreigner detention centre

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the death and injury of 55 migrant workers by a large scale fire that happened in the foreigner detention centre in Yeosu, South Korea on 11 February 2007. It has been reported that the detainees who are migrant workers could not escape the […]

INDONESIA: 19 Indonesian Migrant Workers facing death penalty abroad

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the statement issued by Migrant CARE on the “19 Indonesian Migrant Workers facing death penalty abroad”. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Forwarded Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) INDONESIA: 19 Indonesian Migrant Workers facing death penalty abroad […]

CAMBODIA: Forced eviction of 229 families in Sihanoukville

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are […]

PHILIPPINES: Delays in prosecution causes prolonged detention of two farmers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]

SRI LANKA: Sixth day of mourning against executive interference into the judiciary and other independent institutions — Sri Lanka is ceasing to be a law based society

The numerous appointments to key national commissions by the executive president, contravening constitutional requirements, are a very clear indication of Sri Lanka’s drift from a law-based society to one in which the law plays a significantly reduced role.  While criticism against presidential actions has pointed to matters including the fact that no person is above […]

NEPAL: Supreme Court ruling on the Royal Commission for Corruption Control and the release of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba welcomed

Statement | Nepal | 14-02-2006

The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal on Monday February 13, 2006, which declared the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) unconstitutional and ordered it to be scrapped immediately. This has paved the way for the release of ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had […]

UPDATE (Bangladesh): Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in Chapainawabganj

[RE: UP-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Three persons tortured by the Chapainawabganj police; UA-041-2006: BANGLADESH: Eight people killed and at least one hundred injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UA-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district] ———————————– UP-016-2006: BANGLADESH: Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in […]

UPDATE (Saudi Arabia/Sri Lanka): Renewed plea for commuting the death sentence of Sri Lankan men to the new King of Saudi Arabia

[RE: UP-43-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Questions remain in Sri Lanka’s willingness to save three of its citizens; UP-39-2005: Three Sri Lankans face imminent execution in Saudi Arabia; UP-38-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Please send a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia urging his intervention to commute the death sentence of three Sri Lankans; UP-34-2005: Death […]

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Police’s deliberate inaction in a labour case is in violation of court orders

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding 73 workers from the Orex Factory in Ekala, Jaela, Sri Lanka, who were unlawfully dismissed after the owner arbitrarily closed down the factory in 2002. The AHRC previously reported that the owner, Mohamed Mohamed Izzath deprived his workers of the Employees Trust […]

UPDATE (Thailand): Burmese workers deported for a second time after attempting to assert their legal rights

Dear friends, Further to our urgent appeal on the forced deportation of 232 Burmese migrant workers from Thailand, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the group of 12 who were illegally re-arrested and detained after coming back to Thailand to lodge a complaint were forcibly deported for a second time. […]

INDIA: Human rights defender physically assaulted, threatened and detained by government officials

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information through its local partner MASUM in West Bengal that Mr. Gopen Sharma, a human rights activist was illegally detained, threatened and assaulted by the officers at the Block Development Office in Jalangi, Murshidabad District, West Bengal. Mr. Sharma was, at the time of the […]

THAILAND: Illegal detention and deportation of 232 Burmese migrant workers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the forced deportation of 232 Burmese migrant workers from Daechapanich fishing net factory in the Khon Kaen province in north-east Thailand. The workers were facing severe stress due to the working conditions and therefore approached the MAP Foundation (Migrant Assistance Program) for […]

UPDATE (India): No compensation to family of adivasi, murdered by forest official, despite a four year wait

[Re: UA- 50 -2005: INDIA: Three and a half year wait for justice for the brutal murder of an Adivasi (tribal person) by a forest official in Gujarat] Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the case of Manishbhai Motibhai Vasava (30), an adivasi who was murdered by an Indian […]

SOUTH KOREA: Arrest of high profile government employees, union leaders and migrant union leaders

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the arrest of three high profile union leaders in South Korea. According to the information we have received, Mr. Ahn Byeong-Soon, the General Secretary of the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), was arrested on 15 March 2005, and on March 17 the […]