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Detained Christians in Thailand: ASEAN’s Latest Refugee Issue

Published on Mar 8, 2016 by Luke Hunt

Southeast Asia, with its ten countries squeezed into an area half the size of China and a volatile mix of politics and old-fashioned hatreds, has no shortage of issues with refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, smugglers, and traffickers.Its porous borders and overstretched police mean there is no shortage of people prepared to try their luck in search of a safer, and perhaps more prosperous, life, as witnessed by the exodus of Rohingya Muslims out of Myanmar last year which left thousands stranded at sea.Their story holds a familiar ring. BBC News has detailed the plight of thousands of Christian refugees from Pakistan, arrested and detained in Thailand after fleeing persecution in their own home. Some were....

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Malaysia, Philippines Face a New Sultan at a Bad Time

Published on Feb 28, 2016 by Luke Hunt

War against Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia has too often been complicated by layers of nationalism, provincial politics and tribal culture. It’s a thorn in Southern Thailand, Indonesia and in particular the Southern Philippines, where peace talks have struggled to accommodate all and end decades of conflict that feeds off of old tribal hatreds.The importance of the tribes can’t be underestimated, and this was highlighted by a recent appointment among the Sulu clans.Phugdalun Kiram II has been named as the next Sultan of Sulu, a clan position with pretensions to royal ownership of huge swathes of land including much of Sabah in Malaysia’s far east. He took the helm following the death of Esmail Kiram II last year.Read more from....

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