PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a new column, Asean Today.



xinhua Cambodian juvenile protection police has arrested an American, CEO and founder of an aviation company in Cambodia, on the suspicion of sexually abusing minors, an anti-pedophile agency said: ''[He] was caught red-handed by Tonle Basac police on Friday while engaging in sex with a 12-year- old girl in the presence of two other underage girls.''



news.com.au Forty years after the end of the Vietnam War this is a country which should be rising back to its feet. According to the Red Cross of Vietnam, up to one million people are currently disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange, 100,000 of which are children.

Full story here http://goo.gl/4gWzE7



AP Malaysian authorities said that they have discovered a series of graves in at least 17 abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar (Burma) have been held.

cnn.com Mass graves of refugees caught up in the human-trafficking trade have been found in northern Malaysia near the border with Thailand, authorities said..



antara At least eight Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar (Burma) were among some 200 migrants rescued from a trafficking boat by the Myanmar navy, according to interviews conducted by Reuters, contradicting official accounts that all on board were from Bangladesh.

latimes.com While Bangladeshis are fleeing poverty, the refugees from Myanmar are Rohingya Muslims trying to escape their country's shameful, long-standing persecution. The government, wrongfully, considers them illegal immigrants and won't even call them Rohingya, referring to them as Bengalis.



wsj.com The search for thousands of migrants and refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar abandoned by human traffickers intensified after Indonesia's armed forces joined Malaysia's navy in the mission.

abc.net.au More than 700 Bangladeshis who arrived in Indonesia by boat will be sent back to their country having been deemed economic migrants.



nola.com The US Department of State issued a travel warning this week to those considering travel to the Philippines: ''US citizens should continue to defer non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago, due to the high threat of kidnapping of international travelers and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there.''



straitstimes.com The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has revoked the licence of a tour agency following its sudden closure. Staff of Asia-Euro Holidays in Chinatown Point were asked to leave work earlier than usual, at about 5.30pm, on Friday. A note was then put up on the company's front door to apologise to customers for closing the business.