What is the Role of Human Rights in the Mekong?

What is the Role of Human Rights in the Mekong?

1. Committees

   • Commerce
     • Interested in the buying and selling or trading aspects concerning the Mekong River
       • Support
         • Trade provides income for people
   • Tourism
     • Interested in the tourism aspect of the Mekong and the reasons people visit it
       • Support
         • Provides jobs and income for people
   • Agriculture
     • Interested in the agriculture and food security of the poor people in the Mekong
       • Support
         • Food security
   • Human Rights
     • Interested in helping the poor people along the Mekong and their needs
   • Energy
     • Interested in the generation of energy from the Mekong River
       • Not support
         • Try to stop too many dam proposals
           • Less dams, invest in more alternative sources of energy
             • microhydro power
             • wind/solar energy
           • If not, huge project like Xayaburi dam can bring irrevocable changes
             • Permanent damage ecology and ecosystem o river
             • Forcibly relocate over 2,100 people
             • Affect 202,000 people
             • Endanger fishes
               • Mekong Giant Catfish
   • Environment
     • Interested in maintaining and mitigating damage of the environment of the Mekong by development projects and dams
       • Support
         • Better environment
           • Healthy, more fish
             • Food security

2. Issues with Human Rights

   • Food security
     • Energy Committee
       • Construct minimal, and necessary amount of dams
         • Mitigates risk on fish and river ecology
           • More available food for income and consummation
           • River will start to flourish again
     • Share issue with Agriculture and Environment Committees/stakeholders
   • Unjust Compensation
     • Construction stakeholder
       • Employ men and women to work in projects/dams
         • Part of compensation to the people
           • Payment for food and to live
   • Unequal electricity Distribution
     • 90% of electricity generated from the Xayaburi dam will go to Thailand and Vietnam
       • Distribute fairly and equally among the SE Asian region
         • Further develop countries
           • Export of electricity to countries
             • Countries get paid
               • GDP growth
           • Access to internet, electronics, better tech

3. Background of whole issue

   • Environment/Climate
     • Dams and development projects in Mekong River
       • Changing the ecology and river flow
         • Bad/undesirable climate changes
           • Droughts or floods
             • Poor people suffer
       • Threaten Marine life
         • Irrawwady dolphins nearly extinct
           • No other species can survive
           • Top of food chain
         • Overfishing
           • Not much fish left
             • Threaten people's food security and income/trade