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People and Planet over Profit!
#WhatsHappeningInThailand š¹š Governments all over the world keep putting profit over People and Planet - and Thailand is no different. Let's raise our voices together and tell the Thai authorities that People and Planet are over profit! Read more below šš¼
ā ļø Imagine that one day you receive a letter saying you need to move out of your home because a new factory is going to be built on your land. Nobody told you anything before, nobody asked you about your opinion. Nobody is also going to provide you with another house in a different location. And when you try to complain? They file a lawsuit and try to intimidate you and your family.
š« Does it sound like a fiction story? No. This is a reality for many rural and urban communities in Thailand. Power plants, industrial zones, mining projects, tourist resorts, or dams are constructed and run without any regard for the impact they have on people and the environment. The courageous ones who defy the corporate abuse are then harassed and intimidated, often charged with criminal offences, or they wait for years to reach justice. They are being SLAPPed = victims of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation!
š« Instead of respecting human rights and the environment, Governments give in to #corporatecapture and prioritise profits to the well-being of people they should protect! In Thailand, business enterprises are given carte blanche to do whatever they want - there is little or no regulation, existing laws are not enforced, and persistent corruption prevents people from realising their rights!
š In November 2021, Thailand will undergo its 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ā a comprehensive review of its human rights record where it will be held accountable for its human rights violations in front of delegations from the whole world. Each UN Member State, individual country, can make recommendations to Thailand to improve the human rights situation on the ground. The Thai government will accept or note those.
In the last UPR cycle, Thailand accepted 14 recommendations relevant to the protection of vulnerable persons, 8 recommendations on the protection of human rights defenders, and even 2 recommendations concerning environmental degradation and protection of human rights in the pursuit of economic growth. However, the Government has done very little to implement any of them.
š£ļø We call on Thai authorities to:
āļø Stop prioritising profit over People and Planet
āļø Ensure human rights are respected in development projects
āļø Stop allowing harassment of human rights defenders by corporations
#VoicesOfThailand āš½ To support the initiative, Manushya Foundation and grassroots members of the Thai Business & Human Rights Network have prepared the UPR Factsheet on People and Planet Over Profit in Thailand to tell the world the truth.
Share this with your network to ensure the world knows about #WhatsHappeningInThailand!
šš¼ Access the UPR Advocacy Factsheet on People and Planet over Profit in Thailand here.
šš¼ Access all the UPR Advocacy Factsheets on #WhatsHappeningInThailand here.
šš¼ Learn more about the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) here.
šØ Illustration by: @notvalentinaleoni
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