Op-Ed
Analysis and commentary from journalists, lawyers, researchers, and civil society across South and Southeast Asia.
Featured · Latest Op-Ed
Building Walls Won't Fill Europe's Labour Shortages
Md. Mamunur Rashid
Co-Founder, The South Asian Story · 6 July 2026
Restricting irregular migration without expanding safe and accessible pathways to EU risks reinforcing the very smuggling networks governments seek to dismantle. People rarely embark on dangerous journeys because they are unaware of the risks.
All Pieces
- 25JUN2026
When Water Has a Gatekeeper
MRMohammad Rahmatullah
Executive Editor, The South Asian Story
Prepaid IrrigationCivil Society & NGOsIn Bangladesh, climate change is often imagined as water arriving with violence: a cyclone, a flood, a river taking away land overnight. But in the Barind region of the north-west, the crisis is quieter. Water does not arrive. It has to be requested, purchased, scheduled,…
- 21JUN2026
Human Rights in the Digital Age: A New Frontier for Equality
JCJune Chakma
Wydiz
Human rightsMigrationOtherAs technology becomes deeply integrated into daily life, a new human rights challenge is emerging, which is: digital rights. Access to information, online privacy, freedom of expression, and protection from digital discrimination are becoming essential components of modern…
- 21JUN2026
Bangladeshi Migrant Workers are Paying the Price of a Crisis They Didn’t Create
MMMd Mamunur Rashid
Co-Founder, The South Asian Story
Bangladeshi Migrant WorkersCivil Society & NGOsAs per the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), at least 25,000 Bangladeshi workers have already been unable to depart for overseas jobs due to flight disruptions, rising migration costs, and hiring freezes linked to the crisis since the crisis started. For most, migration is financed through hefty loans. When departure is delayed or cancelled, these workers—and their families—are left with mounting debt but no income.
- 21JUN2026
Women's Privacy in the Age of AI-Generated Images
SBShuchi Binte Shahjalal
Associate Editor, The South Asian Story
Gender & Women's RightsA predictable objection to fast-takedown laws is that they risk overreach, that platforms pressured to remove content within hours will err toward deletion, sweeping up legitimate speech alongside genuine abuse. It's a real concern, and one reason laws like TAKE IT DOWN build in penalties for bad-faith reporting. But the asymmetry of harm here is not close. A wrongly removed post can be appealed and restored. A circulated intimate image cannot be uncirculated. Erring toward swift removal, with safeguards against misuse, is the correct tradeoff.