Thailand and the Burmese military regime have plans to build several dams on the Salween river inside Burma. The Norwegian Burma Committee asks everyone to sign the universally distributed online petition to the Prime Minister of Thailand to withdraw from the cooperation project with the Burmese junta. Right, the numbers of internally displaced persons along the Salween river are on he rise. (15-FEB-07)
Based on the Norwegian Burma Committee´s release, this article has been written by HRHF / Niels Jacob Harbitz.
To sign the petition, click here.
The reasons cited as to why one ought to sign it are clear enough
- The dam projects are in a conflict zone where several hundred thousand people are forced to leave their homes to add to the aøready high numbers of Burmese internally displaced and refugees.
- The dam projects are use as a military strategy to suppress ethnic minorities inside Burma.
- With growing numbers of soldiers and more landmines laid out, torture, rape and killings of villagers will continue and most likely escalate.
- The dam developments will increase the income of the military regime.
- Widespread corruption is unavoidable as a consequence of inadequate control mechanisms.
- The dams will forever damage Southeast Asia´s longest river and its rich biodiversity of both plant and animal species, some unique to the river region. The projects will also ruin the livelihoods of a large number of people living along and off the river.