Tag Archives: East Asia

Age
As Japan expects to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 this month, Japanese youth are ambivalent about the impact.
  • The Lower House has passed the measure, signaling the start of a legislative change that would be the first in 70 years to alter the minimum voting age and would enfranchise 2.4 million 18- and 19-year-olds.
  • While some Japanese teens welcome the empowerment in a country that often prioritizes senior rights, others express apathy, resonating with the record-low 32.58% voter turnout among twentysomething voters in the last election.
  • One civics expert calls for educational reforms to prepare the newly enfranchised populace for the decision-making and engagement process voting entails.

“I hope the lowered voting age will encourage more young people to pay attention to politics and make efforts to get their messages across. Only then can Japan turn into a real democracy.”

More on this story at The Japan Times.

(Image Credit: The Japan Times)

Nationality + Migration
The first refugees arrive in Cambodia as part of Australia’s controversial program resettling asylum seekers from its offshore detention center.
  • Political opposition leaders and human rights advocates criticize the government’s harsh stance against refugees and their resettlement in an under-resourced country with a poor rights records.
  • Australia has offered Cambodia A$40 million as part of the resettlement deal.
  • Despite cash incentives, few refugees have taken up the Australian government on its offer.

More on this story at Reuters.

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Local and national politics in Myanmar plays upon and is at times driven by society’s anti-Rohingya sentiment (and anti-Muslim sentiment more generally). More from Al Jazeera.

Nationality + Migration

Thailand reports it’s housing 600 refugees from the recent influx in addition to around 130,000 asylum seekers and refugees in total. More from Reuters.

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Former Vietnamese refugees call for sympathy for Rohingya refugees, sharing their own stories. More from Al Jazeera.

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

The Dalai Lama calls on Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out against the country’s persecution of the Rohingya. More from Al Jazeera.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Bangladesh announces it will be relocating the 32,000 Rohingya registered in two official refugee camps to an island for tourism reasons. More from Radio France Internationale (in French).

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Genocide researcher finds early signs forecasting possible future genocide in the Rohingya situation in Myanmar.  More from Public Radio International.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Official Singapore media authority bans airing of pro-marriage equality song and music video on channels freely accessed by youth.  More from Global Voices.

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

New law authorizing Myanmar provincial authorities to mandate 3-year gap between births suspected by rights groups as attempt to inhibit Muslim population growth.  More from The Guardian.