Communication to Thailand on forced evictions for climate mitigation measures - Other

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On December 1, 2022, eight UN Special Procedures on the right to adequate housing, climate change, environment, food, human rights defenders, minority issues, extreme poverty, and contemporary forms of racism, jointly issued a communication to Thailand expressing their deep concern about the (threat of) forced eviction of 14 Isan minority members (9 women, 5 men), who are also land-right defenders, from their lands and homes in the Sab Wai village. The eviction orders were issued in pursuit of climate mitigation action under forest conservation policies and legislation, without provision of alternative accommodation and productive land, nor adequate compensation. 
According to information received, Thailand’s updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) set aims to reduce GHGs by 20% compared to ‘business as usual by 2030, when compared to 2005 as the baseline year, and to achieve carbon (CO2) neutrality by 2050, and net-zero by 2065. A key strategy for meeting these objectives is to enhance forestry carbon sinks, including by reforestation, and improved conservation. The Thai government has adopted a 20-Year National Strategy, aiming to increase the country’s forested area to 55 percent of the total Thai territory by 2037 and adopted a Forest Reclamation Policy of 2014. 
A key complaint is that the chosen strategy for meeting NDC targets negatively impacts, and even criminalizes forest-dependent communities, including minority and indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers and those having traditionally lived in or near national parks. An important concern is that the policies criminalize any person or entity which ‘destroys’ protected forests, which could include those who traditionally live and farm in protected area.  Those concerned call the strategy a ‘false solution’ to the climate crisis, for it moves attention away from necessary energy sector reforms. Moreover, despite earlier commitments that the Forest Reclamation Policy would primarily target large-scale investors and developers, and ‘protect the poor, landless and those who had settled in an area before it was declared as protected’, the actual implementation of the forestry policy is problematic. 
Based on the forestry laws and policies, 14 Isan minority community members of the Sab Wai village in Chaiyaphum Province, central northeastern Thailand, are threatened by forced eviction from the lands they lived and farmed on since the 1970s, as they were identified as ‘forest destroyers’ under the current legislation. Their village is located in Sai Thong National Park, which was established in their living area in 1992. 
According to the UN Special Procedures, the evictions constitute violations of international human rights law, since the villagers are not provided with alternative accommodation or productive land, nor adequate compensation. Actions to mitigate adverse effects of climate change must take into account negative impacts on the human rights of forest dependent communities, including especially their right to adequate standard of living, including food and housing. This is closely tied to communities’ right to land as well. The UN Special Procedures reaffirm forest-dependent minorities and communities’ ‘right to land, including the right to have access to, sustainably use and manage land and forests’. They ask how the Thai government intends to protect this right through measures aimed at legal recognition of ‘land tenure rights, including customary land tenure rights not currently protected by law’.
The communication is based on Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), as further interpreted through CESCR General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing, CESCR General Comment No. 7 on forced evictions, and the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement. The latter clarifies, amongst others, that ‘evictions can only take place in 'exceptional circumstances'; that they must be authorized by law, and ensure full and fair compensation and rehabilitation’. The communication also outlines how ‘eviction-impact assessments’ should be carried out to explore alternatives and minimization of harm that may result from an inevitable eviction. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas was also cited, in recognition that ‘peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to contribute to the design and implementation of national and local climate change adaptation and mitigation policies’.
Case specific observations on possible human rights violations and requests for further information, highlight that the Thai government’s forestry and environment-related laws and regulations, and their implementation, have discriminatory effects on specific ethnic groups and indigenous peoples, and that the Isan group more generally is subject to ‘direct and indirect, multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination’. They also ask how forest-dependent communities were consulted or participated in ‘the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of mitigation measures affecting them’, and what the outcomes of ‘human rights impact assessments of climate change mitigation measures’ have been. Specifically, consultation with the Isan minority villagers from the Sab Wai village should explore ‘feasible alternatives to the evictions, including the possibility to remain in situ or the provision of alternative land and housing and adequate compensation, and the outcome of these consultations’.
The Permanent Mission of Thailand in Geneva acknowledged receipt of the communication, but no formal response on behalf of the Thai government is registered in the communications repository to date.


Communication to Thailand on forced evictions for climate mitigation measures

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

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Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

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Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

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Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

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Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Communication to Thailand on forced evictions for climate mitigation measures - Other

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance