Latest news with #SoutheastAsians
Nikkei Asia
5 days ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Singaporean travel app Traveloka enters Japan market
TOKYO -- Traveloka, one of the leading travel booking apps in Southeast Asia, has launched services in Japan, hoping to expand its share of the growing intra-Asian tourism market. The Singapore-headquartered company, which now operates in eight countries in the region, said that growing numbers of Southeast Asians want to travel to Japan, just as more Japanese people are traveling to Southeast Asia.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How the fall of Saigon fueled a refugee crisis that's still felt today
A woman who fled Vietnam for America in the 1970s says she once hoped that the U.S. would serve as a refuge from the upheaval in her home country. But now, with a family member facing potential deportation under the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, she said it's beginning to resemble the place she fled. 'You are afraid to go to church. You are afraid to get on the bus,' said the woman, who's based on the West Coast and asked to be anonymous out of fear of retaliation. 'You're on high alert.' Her family member is among the upward of 8,500 Vietnamese nationals who are facing orders of removal because of past convictions, with many of the offenses dating back decades to their youths. Southeast Asians are three to five times more likely to be deported on the basis of an old criminal conviction compared with other groups, advocates say, likely due to the community's immigration status as refugees and the difficulties they have had acclimating to life in the U.S. The Trump administration's aggressive detention and deportation tactics, in addition to the growing pressure on Vietnam to accept deportees, have put the refugee group in a particularly precarious position, experts say. Many of the refugees facing orders of removal fall under what immigration experts refer to as the 'migration to school to prison to deportation pipeline.' Advocates say it points to how those who resettled in the U.S. were given few resources, became entangled in the criminal justice system and were threatened with deportation upon serving their sentences. As the world commemorates the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, advocates say that the refugee community's issues have only been magnified. 'Your family was exiled at that point, forced out of the country, separated, starting over. And so you're repeating that cycle,' the refugee said of those who fled Vietnam and now face potential deportation. Quyen Dinh, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, or SEARAC, a civil rights group, said that Trump's first term had proved to be a tense time for refugee communities. According to DHS data, 382 Vietnamese individuals were deported during his first administration. That's a 114% increase from Barack Obama's second term. Under Joe Biden, 87 Vietnamese nationals were deported, although official data from his final year in office has not yet been published. Legal experts and community advocates say that many previous protections for refugees no longer exist. In 2008, the U.S. and Vietnam struck a deal, guaranteeing that refugees who arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, were not subject to deportation. However, during Trump's first term, more pressure was put on Vietnam to accept deportees and ICE began to detain those who arrived before 1995. And toward the end of Trump's first term, the U.S. and Vietnam renegotiated the deal, creating a process to deport pre-1995 refugees. Tin Nguyen, a North Carolina-based immigration attorney, said that the increasingly fragile relationship between China and Vietnam, particularly in the South China Sea, likely led Vietnam to cave to repatriation pressures. 'Now, Vietnam needs the United States militarily and strategically to counterbalance China,' Nguyen said. While the previous Trump administration put visa sanctions on countries like Vietnam that refused to accept repatriations, the new administration has also threatened tariffs, Dinh said. And it's likely to push countries that want to avoid economic consequences to bend. With third countries becoming involved in the American deportation effort, individuals are also fearful of being sent to countries that they are entirely unfamiliar with. The Vietnam War resulted in what is considered the largest resettlement of refugees in American history, with almost 590,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos coming to the U.S. from 1980 to 1990, according to Pew Research. These refugee communities still struggle. More than one-fifth of Southeast Asians are considered low-income, higher than the national average, according to a 2020 report from SEARAC. When it comes to educational attainment, nearly 30% of Southeast Asian Americans, more than double the general population, have not completed high school or passed the GED. Immigration issues in particular plague the community. The challenges, advocates say, can be traced back to the unorganized resettlement effort. Legal and immigration experts say that Vietnamese refugees were scattered across the country and often placed in low-income urban centers that were under-resourced and heavily policed. For the Vietnamese community, the top counties range from Orange County and Los Angeles in California to Harris County in Texas, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Washington state also became a significant hub for Vietnamese Americans. Volunteer groups assisted the State Department in these efforts, but lacked a standardized system for helping people transition to their new country, the SEARAC report pointed out. Aside from greeting refugees, matching them with sponsors and sometimes providing a one-time cash assistance, organizations were given little guidance or expectations, the report said. Advocates say that schools provided Asian American students few language resources and counseling or mental health help to cope with the trauma of war. Nguyen also said the young refugees often endured bullying in their new environment. And parents and elders were still grappling with upheaval themselves, unable to gently guide the stark change, he said. 'Your parents were still traumatized from the war, and couldn't really give that kind of protection or that emotionally secure environment,' Nguyen said. 'A lot of people had to search for belonging outside of the family.' Advocates say that many refugees turned to gangs or the streets for the protection and acceptance that they lacked elsewhere. And a significant number of them got caught up on the wrong side of the law. While relatively few, compared to other racial groups, are in prison, the number of incarcerated Asian American and Pacific Islanders surged by more than 250% in the decade from 1990 to 2000. A survey of 447 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders conducted from 2019 to 2021 showed that over half of Southeast Asian respondents said they had experienced bullying, language barriers and lack of counseling in school. Nguyen, who represents several refugees, said that understanding the criminal justice system was difficult for refugees who often had little access to appropriate legal counsel and resources. A 2000 study of California juveniles showed that Asian juveniles were more than twice as likely to be tried as adults than their white peers. 'A lot of folks didn't speak English very well and didn't have money to hire lawyers … and so whatever the public defender told you to do, you did,' Nguyen said. 'Unfortunately, a lot of folks just took plea bargains for things that they didn't even know, didn't even do.' Advocates point out that two Clinton-era laws also expanded the types of offenses that subjected legal immigrants to deportation and prevented judicial discretion in immigration hearings. This meant that judges wouldn't be permitted to take an individual's specific circumstances into consideration. Those who served time often were immediately served with orders of removal as well. 'That would end up tearing them and their families apart,' Dinh said. For many refugees, Dinh said, it's been decades since their convictions and many have turned their lives around, started businesses and have families of their own. Though refugees worried about being detained at their routine check-ins with ICE, the administration's tactics have evolved, she said, with individuals being ripped off the street or arrested in front of their families. 'There were ways that you knew you could still work, and you could still be contributing to society without having to worry that ICE was just going to come get you,' said the refugee whose family member is facing deportation. 'Now it's just mental anguish.'This article was originally published on
NBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
How the fall of Saigon fueled a refugee crisis that's still felt today
A woman who fled Vietnam for America in the 1970s says she once hoped that the U.S. would serve as a refuge from the upheaval in her home country. But now, with a family member facing potential deportation under the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, she said it's beginning to resemble the place she fled. 'You are afraid to go to church. You are afraid to get on the bus,' said the woman, who's based on the West Coast and asked to be anonymous out of fear of retaliation. 'You're on high alert.' Her family member is among the upward of 8,500 Vietnamese nationals who are facing orders of removal because of past convictions, with many of the offenses dating back decades to their youths. Southeast Asians are three to five times more likely to be deported on the basis of an old criminal conviction compared with other groups, advocates say, likely due to the community's immigration status as refugees and the difficulties they have had acclimating to life in the U.S. The Trump administration's aggressive detention and deportation tactics, in addition to the growing pressure on Vietnam to accept deportees, have put the refugee group in a particularly precarious position, experts say. Many of the refugees facing orders of removal fall under what immigration experts refer to as the 'migration to school to prison to deportation pipeline.' Advocates say it points to how those who resettled in the U.S. were given few resources, became entangled in the criminal justice system and were threatened with deportation upon serving their sentences. As the world commemorates the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, advocates say that the refugee community's issues have only been magnified. 'Your family was exiled at that point, forced out of the country, separated, starting over. And so you're repeating that cycle,' the refugee said of those who fled Vietnam and now face potential deportation. Changing U.S. foreign relations have made refugees more vulnerable, experts say Quyen Dinh, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, or SEARAC, a civil rights group, said that Trump's first term had proved to be a tense time for refugee communities. According to DHS data, 382 Vietnamese individuals were deported during his first administration. That's a 114% increase from Barack Obama's second term. Under Joe Biden, 87 Vietnamese nationals were deported, although official data from his final year in office has not yet been published. Legal experts and community advocates say that many previous protections for refugees no longer exist. In 2008, the U.S. and Vietnam struck a deal, guaranteeing that refugees who arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, were not subject to deportation. However, during Trump's first term, more pressure was put on Vietnam to accept deportees and ICE began to detain those who arrived before 1995. And toward the end of Trump's first term, the U.S. and Vietnam renegotiated the deal, creating a process to deport pre-1995 refugees. Tin Nguyen, a North Carolina-based immigration attorney, said that the increasingly fragile relationship between China and Vietnam, particularly in the South China Sea, likely led Vietnam to cave to repatriation pressures. 'Now, Vietnam needs the United States militarily and strategically to counterbalance China,' Nguyen said. While the previous Trump administration put visa sanctions on countries like Vietnam that refused to accept repatriations, the new administration has also threatened tariffs, Dinh said. And it's likely to push countries that want to avoid economic consequences to bend. With third countries becoming involved in the American deportation effort, individuals are also fearful of being sent to countries that they are entirely unfamiliar with. The Vietnam War resulted in what is considered the largest resettlement of refugees in American history, with almost 590,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos coming to the U.S. from 1980 to 1990, according to Pew Research. These refugee communities still struggle. More than one-fifth of Southeast Asians are considered low-income, higher than the national average, according to a 2020 report from SEARAC. When it comes to educational attainment, nearly 30% of Southeast Asian Americans, more than double the general population, have not completed high school or passed the GED. Immigration issues in particular plague the community.
The Sun
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Manila-Beijing strife in sea of lies
MORE than half of Southeast Asians rank aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea as their top geopolitical concern, surpassing the Israel-Hamas conflict. This is as it should be as the South China Sea is our backyard. However, the same respondents in a State of Southeast Asia Survey 2025 (reported in theSun on April 4) regard climate change and extreme weather events as the region's biggest challenge. The irony is that in the Philippines, a frontline country in the path of strong typhoons, 70.9% of respondents ranked climate change as their top concern while in the geopolitical arena, the Philippines looks like it is edging closer to a war with China at America's behest. The Philippines has an ongoing territorial dispute with China in the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal. Clashes between rival coast guard ships have occurred. But there should not necessarily be any conflict to resolve the South China Sea issues with China as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said last November. He dismissed suggestions that China was 'aggressive', saying that such narratives were the work of 'Western capitalists'. America has been fuelling the conflict in its role as warmonger. Have you noticed that after each clash, it blames China immediately? A peacemaker does not take sides; he mediates disputes. The US War Department has drawn up contingency plans for military conflict with China, upgrading its military command in Japan to a new 'war-fighting headquarters' and deployment of a new anti-ship missile system in the Philippines. The Philippines is bolstering its military strength with purchases of US F-16 fighter jets and the mid-range Typhoon missile system. It is also buying India's Akash surface-to-air missile system. Four months ago, the US defence secretary took issue with China's territorial claims to any island in the South China Sea. How does he justify the American territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Island in the Western Pacific, which is next door to the Philippines but one planet away from California? These islands are of huge strategic importance for US military power projection with air force, naval and missile bases in Guam; a US Marine rapid deployment force in the Northern Mariana Islands; and a logistics outpost on Wake Island. They serve as backup for instant strike forces based in Japan and the Philippines. How does America justify Britain's ownership of the Falkland Islands and Diego Garcia island? Falklands lie off Argentina's shores but one planet away from the British Isles. In 1982, the two nations fought a war that Britain won and retained ownership. In the Indian Ocean, Britain exercises sovereignty over Diego Garcia island, which is two continents away from the British Isle. It has a military base, which is under American control and home to long-range bombers targetted at China. What about New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific Ocean? New Caledonia lies just 1,210km east of Australia but is three continents away from France, which owns them. Western media continually publish the lie that China has absolutely no right by international law to islands and shoals in the South China Sea. In fact, the prestigious Manila Times wrote last May that 'this lie has been masterfully disseminated by the US to demonise China as part of its 'Pivot to Asia' policy started in 2009'. This colossal lie is that China has been intruding into the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and trampling over the Philippines' sovereignty. But the EEZ was invented through an international treaty that took effect only in 1994. Unlike the territorial sea, over which a state has absolute sovereignty, an EEZ confers only limited rights to the coastal state. EEZs, therefore, cannot negate the sovereignty claims of China or any other country, just as Manila's EEZ cannot claim sovereignty or even sovereign rights over parts of Indonesia and Sabah just because it reaches these areas, the Times said. America's EEZ, measured from its baselines in Florida, reaches the Cuban coast and the Bahamas but it does not claim it has sovereign rights in these areas. The dispute in the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal is about conflicting claims of sovereignty, not EEZs. China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines each have powerful arguments for their claims of sovereignty over the disputed areas. These territorial claims were made in the 18th century by China and Vietnam, and in Manila's case in 1978 when it unilaterally declared that the Philippines had legal, historical and equitable grounds to annex and occupy the islands. China's claim is that the areas encompassed by Philippine EEZs have been its sovereign territory that it calls Nansha Qundao or Spratly Islands. China's formal administration of these islands started in the 18th century, evidenced by the fact that Nansha and three other archipelagos have been on its official maps. Manila Times further reported that former associate justice of the Philippine Supreme Court Antonio Tirol Carpio stated the correct position when he declared in 2023 that Manila's disputes with China 'remain unresolved since the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governs only maritime disputes and not territorial disputes. There is no treaty providing for a compulsory dispute settlement mechanism for the territorial dispute in the SCS'. The Manila Times exposed another Western lie that China's territorial claims are based on a nine-dash line, a series of dashes drawn around the South China Sea that encroaches on the Philippines' EEZ. China has never declared that the nine-dash line is the basis for its claims of sovereignty. The Manila Times wrote: 'In 1948, the Chinese government published the map of the location of the South China Sea Islands. Both maps placed under China's sovereignty what are now known as the Nansha Islands (Spratlys), the Dongsha Islands (Pratas), the Xisha Islands (Paracels) and the Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank).' This was a year before communist rule. One proof that China's claims are not based on the nine-dash line, the Manila Times said, is the fact that the Philippines' Malampaya Gas field from which natural gas has been extracted since 2002, providing 40% of Luzon's power requirements, is within the nine-dash line. Yet, China has never protested that the Philippines has been extracting gas from Malampaya since 2002. Manila Times explained why China takes firm action in the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal whenever Philippine coast guard or naval ships get too close. The defence of Chinese territory looms large in the Chinese people's consciousness because of its 'Century of Humiliation' when Western powers and Japan grabbed huge swaths of its territory, wrote Manila Times. Why does the US single out China to attack? Possibly because America is in the decline stage of a long-term three-phase cycle that Ray Dalio, founder of one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world – Bridgewater Associates, describes in his book The Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail (2021). Ray describes several indicators revealing that America may be in late-stage decline while still dominant. These indicators include political division, decline in trade competitiveness and productivity growth, and decline in global leadership. Three big forces to watch are high debt levels, large wealth and value gaps, and rising conflict with China. Fearing its own decline, America lashes out at the rest of the world, especially China, which it sees as its biggest threat. This may explain President Donald Trump's baseline 10% tariff on all countries, including Heard Island and McDonald Islands in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica that are populated only by pigeons. The tariff imposition on pigeons was defended by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who responded when questioned over it that it was an act of patriotism. 'We live under a tariff regime from other countries. We have too long ceded the idea that America goes first,' she said. Here is where Malaysia has to step up as the current Asean chair and forcefully advise the Philippines to back away from calling China an aggressor while portraying itself as the victim. Malaysia should utilise Sarawak's gospel familiarity to remind Manila of its Christian depth. 'You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight,' says Jesus (Matthew 5:9). When the enemy accosts you, 'do not lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him' (Matthew 5:25). 'No more tit-for-tat. Live generously' (Matthew 5:42). Tell America that the threat to its survival comes from climate change and not from China. On April 8, Trump unleashed yet another war on the world. The tariff war president signed a sweeping executive order to 'stop the enforcement of state laws' on climate change. As the move is aimed at reviving the coal industry, Trump may have signed a climate death warrant. Malaysia has to advise China as well. Tone down militarily defensive actions as they tarnish its public image and instead initiate joint cooperation with Manila in fisheries and other mutually beneficial projects. To conclude our foray into the negative impact of geopolitical strife on climate action, it is worth noting that Britain, which owns the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean Sea, has a dispute with the Dominican Republic, which has extended its EEZ to cover a rock called Mouchoir Bank and claims sovereignty over it – a claim that Britain rejects.
Tatler Asia
02-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Tatler Asia
Eclectic escape: exploring Patis Tesoro's vibrant home in Laguna
Above Exploring the hallway in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Above The stairs leading up to the guest house in Patis Tesoro's Laguna home This desire to be immersed in nature never abated, even after decades of being based in Manila. 'I needed to smell clean air and go beyond the concrete, Western style,' said Tesoro. She also wanted to engage in the practice of permaculture, which adjusts to a specific forest's ecosystem. 'We follow the American way of mass planting bananas and rice. But in between, it's important to let indigenous crops like lansones and guava grow in their natural habitat,' she explains. Her return to a more Southeast Asian style is reflected in this San Pablo haven. Immediately, one feels boundaries blurring between the indoors and outdoors, heritage and novelty. In line with this philosophy, Tesoro displays her memories in each home décor item. From lizard-shaped door knobs to recycled vases of ceramic and metal, each piece adding a glimpse of who Tesoro is. 'If you look at Southeast Asians, we put four walls over four sticks, nothing fancy,' she said. 'People display their unique taste through embellishment.' More from Tatler: Want to get published? Here are 6 Filipino printing houses for aspiring authors to explore Photo 1 of 3 Exploring the hallway in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Photo 2 of 3 Exploring the living room in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Photo 3 of 3 Exploring the living room in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Even the dining table features her explorations of sustainability, with a candelabra formed from her endless supply of bamboo. But Tesoro's favourite element is the hand-painted ceiling mural that brings ocean waves indoors, transferred from her old San Juan, Metro Manila home. Outside her private quarters, one sees iconic Machuca tiles spreading from the floors up to the walls. 'I got the rejects at half their original price, but they were all in different patterns,' she said. 'So I decided to use a carpet system.' The courtyard evokes images of a patchwork quilt, enveloping viewers in a dynamic, warm embrace. Above The textiles on display at the store in Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Above Exploring the living room in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna compound Above Exploring the living room in the guest area of Patis Tesoro's Laguna home Past the private residence is a series of workshops; Tesoro's store sits above a bed-and-breakfast. Each guest room is decorated with hand-painted walls that recall scenes of nature both indoors and outdoors, from bouquets in china vases to branches of foliage cascading with fruit. Above the illustrations are intricate dividers with sprawling peacock motifs. These add visual harmony, allowing the cool Laguna breeze to permeate the interior while shielding it from the sun. For Tesoro, this Laguna escape is constantly evolving. In between exhibitions throughout the country, she conducts lively symposiums with artists of all ages. 'This is why I chose to live in a barangay,' she said. 'I like to make friends from different backgrounds. Connecting with them brightens this place and makes me happy.' In her eyes, Filipinos are shifting to a slower pace, seeking a closer connection with the outside world. She extends an invitation to visitors seeking a change from the city —after they make a reservation, of course. 'My vision for this area is to encourage creativity, not just in fashion but in all kinds of art,' she says. 'Beauty inspires you to try making something new.' NOW READ Meet Elizabeth Quijano, the Blaan indigenous community's first creative writer to win a National Book Award How 'interiors disruptor' Alex Alonso embraces colourful maximalism in summer homes Solar-powered: summer furniture picks that add vibrance to any space Credits
