Court urged to reaffirm Karen rights

Court urged to reaffirm Karen rights

Jai Paen Din locals 'have right to return'

Karen villagers and rights activists arrive in front of Government House last month to discuss their demand to return and live in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
Karen villagers and rights activists arrive in front of Government House last month to discuss their demand to return and live in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

A land rights advocacy group will submit a petition to the Administrative Court, demanding it reaffirm the rights of a Karen ethnic minority group in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi so they can go back to their home in Jai Paen Din.

Prayong: Asserts prior rights

Prayong Doklamyai, adviser to the People's Movement for a Just Society, or P-Move, said yesterday he was convinced the Supreme Administrative Court's order to ban six Karen villagers from returning to the forest should not apply to the entire Karen minority.

Mr Prayong was referring to a 2018 court ruling which ordered authorities to pay 45,000-50,000 baht in damages to six Karen villagers whose houses in Kaeng Krachan National Park were burned down in 2011.

The top court, however, said it could not allow the villagers to return to live in the area because they did not have official claims or titles to the land.

In total, park authorities burned down some 90 homes and rice barns in a bid to evict the villagers.

The villagers claimed they had been living in the area before it was declared a part of the national park.

Mr Prayong said there is clear evidence from satellite images taken before the area was declared a national park which showed signs of prior habitation.

The conflict between authorities and the Karen villagers didn't make the headlines again until last month, when a group of villagers converged in front of Government House to ask Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to intervene so they could return to Jai Paen Din.

Gen Prayut later promised that his administration won't use force against ethnic Karen villagers living in Kaeng Krachan National Park.

Mr Prayong, however, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa has created an unfriendly environment for discussions, which will undermine any attempt to resolve the dispute.

He said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry should respect the Karen's right to stay in their homeland, as they had lived in the forest area long before the establishment of Kaeng Krachan National Park.

On Tuesday, Mr Varawut urged the villagers to abide by the law, saying the Administrative Court has clearly said they can't return to the forest, as the area has been designated a national park.

His comment sparked a backlash from the villagers and rights activists, who in return demanded the ministry respect and follow the group's demand to withdraw legal action against the Karen villagers and allow them to return to the forest.

Separately, chief of the Kaeng Krachan National Park, Mana Permpol, was transferred from his post, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said, citing health concerns.

The department's chief Thanya Nethithammakul insisted the transfer had nothing to do with the conflict with the Karen villagers in the park.

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