After having been threatened by the junta’s policies to reclaim the national park lands, Karen villagers who have been living in the forest for generations filed a complaint to the authority to stop confisticating their habitats.
Approximately 60 Karen tribe representatives from Mae Hong Sorn, the mountainous northern province, on Tuesday submitted a complaint to Damrongtham Center, an agency established by the Ministry of Interior to accept complaints, in Mae Hong Sorn provincial office to request the junta to revise its forest protection policy.
These Karen communities are some of many landless and other minority communities countrywide that have been affected by Order 64/2557 of the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which stipulates that the authority shall apply legal measures to prevent invasions of national park areas.
The talk between Karen representatives and relevant civil servants of Mea Hong Sorn province
Although legally Karen tribes have never been permitted to settle down in natural reservations, it is known that their traditional livelihood relies on the forest. Therefore, the Forestry Department were restraint to evict them from the forest. This, however, has changed after the junta announced the its new conservation policy of protected areas.
According to Tawee Paitaimongkolboon, Pakakayaw Karen village chief in Mai Ngao of Mae Hong Sorn, three plots of lands in the village have been confiscated by the Forestry Department on 23 September and three families are left without lands to cultivate for food. Many other Karen villagers are now fearing that they might also be evicted from their habitats.
Karen representatives stated on the petition that the authority should turn their attention to capitalists and civil servants who have also illegally made use of the natural park lands to practice monoculture farming in the area for profits. Unlike the Karen tribes who have been practicing sustainable farming in the forests for generations, stated the document.
After the complaint was submitted on Tuesday, the talk between Karen representatives and Mae Hong Sorn governor, Kamthon Thawonsathit was held. The governor promised the Karen that the committee comprised of relevant civil servants and Karen representatives will be founded to find solutions to the problem, but no timeframe has been set.