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ASEAN leaders stumble over humanitarian crises

Luke Hunt
 
Five great refugee floods have blighted Southeast Asia over the last half-century—sparked by conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, East Timor (also known as Timor Leste) and Myanmar—in tragedies with far-reaching consequences that should have been averted.
 







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Displaced tribal people of Mindanao trek home

MANILA (UCAN): “We had a confirmation that the army has pulled its troops out of our village. Now, we can finally return,” said Sarry Campos, spokesperson of the Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang Sa Sumusunod (Mapasu), an inter-municipal organisation of Lumad tribal people in Surigao del Sur, Mindanao.
 
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Whose shadow lurks behind the killers in the Philippines?

The defenders of the rights of the people, those who stand for justice, tolerance, equality, human dignity and freedom of speech are the conscience of a nation. In the Philippines, more social activists are being killed than ever before. Pastor Lovelito Quiñones of the King’s Glory Ministry, was shot and killed by police near his home in Mansalay Town, Mindoro Occidental, on 3 December 2017.
 







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Uneven distribution of land the root of all evil

HONG KONG (SE): Speakers at a forum organised by the Justice and Peace Commission, pointed out that the government should address the uneven distribution of land before claiming that there is a shortage of land.
 
The forum, held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Wanchai, on June 19, was organised in response to a consultation launched by the government about the supply of land in the next three decades.
 
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Migrants seek a welcome

Let us look at ourselves as human beings with dignity, values and inalienable human rights. We are persons not like the animals that see enemies and rivals all around them in the wild, and who fight and kill for food and survival. Most humans have a higher standard to live by and coexist in peace on this planet—but not all. 
 







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Cost of trauma delayed

HONG KONG (SE): A gunfight resulting in three brutal deaths took place in the Barangay Mansangaban Playground of Bais City, Negros Occidental, on 25 April 1993, in full view of around 100 people, including the children and families of the dead and the daughter of a barangay captain, who was later to be found guilty of the multiple murder.
 
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On a day when obedience was not a virtue

HONG KONG (SE): On a day when obedience was not a virtue, tens of thousands of people braved the blazing sun to express their discontent at a decision of the Court of Appeal to jail the trio from the Umbrella Movement: Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang; and express their solidarity with them.
 
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Death penalty bill directed at individuals

Life is for living. It is to experience freedom to love and help others, to be free to grow and have a family. To be human is to be free from fear and punishment and ill health, poverty and hunger.
 
Living is to be free to think, to speak our thoughts and freely choose the good. To be alive is to have justice and dignity and the fullness of existence. To be able to say I am alive and I know that I am is to be aware of life.
 







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No lowering of age of criminal liability

MANILA (UCAN): A decision by the lower house of the congress in Manila to overrule a bill proposing that the age of criminal liability for young people be lowered from the current 15 to as young as nine has been welcomed by rights advocates, prison chaplaincies and social workers.
 
“What is needed is to implement and strengthen the current law in dealing with children in conflict with the law,” Rodolfo Diamante, the secretary of the Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said on May 29.
 
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Thomas Aquinas and the roots of Catholic social teaching

HONG KONG (SE): Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun urged people to uphold the core values of Hong Kong and talk the truth based on Church traditions during an open talk marking the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of students and all universities.

The function was organised by the Caritas Institute of Higher Education and the chaplaincy of the Caritas Bianchi College of Careers on March 7.
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