Two thousand migrants found abandoned by traffickers in Indonesia and Malaysia, the difficulties of Indonesia’s religious minorities, music and cultural history for Japan’s Okinawans, recognizing the choice of childlessness for women, a rainbow crosswalk in Chile, and more in today’s news rounds…

Race, Ethnicity & Nationality

• Okinawan musicians turn to their well-regarded, historically entrenched cultural form to tell stories of protest, exile, and possible futures for a people now lodged between Japanese and U.S. interests. (Japan Times)
• Thai immigrant in the Philippines deported following viral racist comments, leading to concerns over free speech encroachments. (Global Voices)
• University of Texas (U.S.) students rally for the removal of a statue of the president of the Confederacy, viewed as offensive for its ties to slavery. (Yahoo! News)
• Multiracial coalition looks to shake up Guyana‘s traditionally race-based political divisions between Indo- and Afro-Guyanese citizens in presidential election. (Reuters)
• Israel‘s High Court green-lights Jerusalem Day march despite a route taking it through the city’s Muslim Quarter that led to physical confrontations and anti-Arab statements last year. (Times of Israel)
• New study finds foreclosure explosion during the Great Recession slowed and undid racial desegregation progress in the U.S. (Colorlines)
• Canadian official denies any plans to apply hate crime laws to calls for boycotts against Israel. (Global News)

Gender

• In addition to child care, cultural expectations for Japanese women to bear the responsibility of elder care stifle the new push for gender equality in the workplace. (Japan Times)
• In Afghanistan, religious authorities challenge women’s rights activists, newly emboldened after protests surrounding the death of Farkhunda, the 27-year-old woman burned to death after falsely accused of burning the Qur’an. (Dawn.com)
• Hong Kong (China) rights group points to gender stereotypes in media as contributing to gender inequity. (South China Morning Post)
• As Mother’s Day passes, Maria del Carmen Alanis, a senior Mexican electoral official, asks that a woman’s choice not to have children also be appreciated.

Migration & Displacement

• Indonesian and Malaysian officials rescue or discover nearly 2,000 migrants after having reportedly been dumped into the sea by smugglers. (Guardian)
• A boon for American and European mouths and Thai government coffers, Thailand‘s fishing industry, driven in part by human trafficking and exploitation, faces increased global scrutiny and crackdown. (CNN)
• Human Rights Watch reports abuses in Saudi Arabia‘s detention and deportation of undocumented workers. (Human Rights Watch)
• Burundians flee to Tanzania to escape political violence embroiling the country. (Reuters)

Religion & Belief

• Sunni leaders in Iraq claim power-sharing measures that will secure the nation as a multisectarian state have yet to be realized. (NYT)
• Turkey‘s official religious authority publishes the Qur’an in Armenian following the Christian minority’s calls for the translation. (Yahoo! News)
• A Global Post series examines the persistence of difficult conditions for religious minorities in Indonesia, despite the West’s praises for pluralism. (Global Post)

Sexual & Gender Identity

• Italy witnesses its first on-air same-sex marriage proposal. (BuzzFeed)
• Ceremonial same-sex weddings held during the March against Homophobia and Transphobia in Cuba, led by Raúl Castro’s daughter Mariel. (PinkNews)
• Santiago (Chile) sees one of its busiest crosswalks repainted in rainbow colors in advance of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. (Sin Etiquetas, in Spanish)
• U.S. study finds sexual and gender minority youth suffering from eating disorder rates higher than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, save cisgender lesbians. (Reuters)

In Addition

• China drafts revised foreign NGO management legislation that increases government monitoring capabilities, seen as stifling to their purposes and inhospitable to advocacy, social enterprise, and dissent organizations. (Global Voices)
• Egypt‘s Minister of Justice resigns following classist comments about who is appropriate for the judiciary. (BBC)