Coalition Banding Together to Respond to Violence in Mining Communities
Khon Kaen, Thailand - March 28, 2015 - Thai, American, and Mexican organizations have teamed up to respond to violence associated with mining through a fundraising campaign from April 1st through May 31st, 2015. Money raised will support international collaboration between mine affected communities from Mexico and Thailand.
According to organizers at the Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange (ENGAGE), a US-based nonprofit that is coordinating the campaign, they became determined to make the project a reality in May 2014, after a hundred armed men attacked Na Nong Bong, a mine affected community in Loei Province of Northeast Thailand.
“After learning about this blatant disregard for human rights, ENGAGE felt it necessary to take action and support the villagers of Na Nong Bong who have been fighting the mine for years,” commented Rachel Karpelowitz, the ENGAGE network coordinator.
Members of Na Nong Bong village were held captive on the night of May 14 and were returned to the community bruised and beaten after trucks moved previously extracted ore from the temporarily closed mine. No one has been held accountable for the attacks.
Na Nong Bong has suffered environmental poisoning, threats, violence, legal battles, and economic hardship since 2006, when the mining industry came uninvited into the mountains surrounding their village. Along with other communities in the center of large-scale development projects in Thailand, the village has experienced increasing isolation and surveillance since May 2014, when the military junta installed martial law, which remains in effect today.
“Thai activists need to find new nonviolent strategies now that it is illegal to protest, rally, or gather in groups,” explained Suvit Gulapwong, a community organizer based in Northeast Thailand. Suvit is facilitating the long-term vision for the delegation to Mexico, set for July, including ways in which the benefits of the project can reach grassroots movements on a regional level.
Organizers supporting the project are determined to ensure that Na Nong Bong’s situation is not forgotten or pushed out of the headlines. Current and former students from the Council on International and Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Thailand have connected with ENGAGE in the United States and Servicios Universitarios Y Redes de Conocimientos en Oaxaca A.C. (SURCO) in Mexico to make the exchange possible.
“It is critical that communities around the world, that people—who rarely are given choice about how the lands they live on are used—share experiences, explore strategies and create coordinated action on a global level,” says Jonathan Treat, Director of Delegations, SURCO. “Clearly it is time for people at the grassroots to have their collective voices heard as they struggle to protect their communities and our Mother Earth.”
The online fundraising campaign aims to raise 11,200 USD for travel expenses to and from Oaxaca for five Thai delegates. To find out more, preview the online fundraising campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/9dc46002.
According to organizers at the Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange (ENGAGE), a US-based nonprofit that is coordinating the campaign, they became determined to make the project a reality in May 2014, after a hundred armed men attacked Na Nong Bong, a mine affected community in Loei Province of Northeast Thailand.
“After learning about this blatant disregard for human rights, ENGAGE felt it necessary to take action and support the villagers of Na Nong Bong who have been fighting the mine for years,” commented Rachel Karpelowitz, the ENGAGE network coordinator.
Members of Na Nong Bong village were held captive on the night of May 14 and were returned to the community bruised and beaten after trucks moved previously extracted ore from the temporarily closed mine. No one has been held accountable for the attacks.
Na Nong Bong has suffered environmental poisoning, threats, violence, legal battles, and economic hardship since 2006, when the mining industry came uninvited into the mountains surrounding their village. Along with other communities in the center of large-scale development projects in Thailand, the village has experienced increasing isolation and surveillance since May 2014, when the military junta installed martial law, which remains in effect today.
“Thai activists need to find new nonviolent strategies now that it is illegal to protest, rally, or gather in groups,” explained Suvit Gulapwong, a community organizer based in Northeast Thailand. Suvit is facilitating the long-term vision for the delegation to Mexico, set for July, including ways in which the benefits of the project can reach grassroots movements on a regional level.
Organizers supporting the project are determined to ensure that Na Nong Bong’s situation is not forgotten or pushed out of the headlines. Current and former students from the Council on International and Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Thailand have connected with ENGAGE in the United States and Servicios Universitarios Y Redes de Conocimientos en Oaxaca A.C. (SURCO) in Mexico to make the exchange possible.
“It is critical that communities around the world, that people—who rarely are given choice about how the lands they live on are used—share experiences, explore strategies and create coordinated action on a global level,” says Jonathan Treat, Director of Delegations, SURCO. “Clearly it is time for people at the grassroots to have their collective voices heard as they struggle to protect their communities and our Mother Earth.”
The online fundraising campaign aims to raise 11,200 USD for travel expenses to and from Oaxaca for five Thai delegates. To find out more, preview the online fundraising campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/9dc46002.
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