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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Elaine Kurtenbach

What a Human Rights Watch report says about the economic toll of backsliding rights in Asia

Cambodia Thailand Scams Photo Gallery - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Widespread backsliding on protections of basic rights is taking a toll on Asian economies as growing inequality leaves the poor vulnerable to labor abuses and scams, a report by Human Rights Watch says.

The report released Thursday says many governments in the region have grown more hostile to efforts to protect basic human rights as an authoritarian wave has swept across the world in the past year.

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