CONDEMN ILLEGAL DETENTION and DEPORTATION of 15 FILIPINO FISHER ACTIVISTS
CONDEMN ILLEGAL DETENTION and DEPORTATION
of 15 FILIPINO FISHER ACTIVISTS
UPHOLD FISHER RIGHTS and DIGNITY
ONWARD to PEOPLE’S CENTERED CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIONS
The illegal detention and subsequent unlawful deportation of
Filipino fisher activists from Kilusang Mangingisda (KM), Tambuyog Dev’t Center
and South East Asia Fish for Justice Movement (SEAFISH) secretariat by
As the World Ocean Conference (WOC) and the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) six country summit commence, Manado authorities illegally detained 15 Filipino fisher activists that where in the island attending a parallel regional fisher’s conference to tackle Southeast Asian fishers situation and come-up with a common position to the World Ocean Conference and the Coral Triangle Initiative summit. Such action of the Indonesian authorities is uncalled for and only underscores the utter disrespect and indifference of such international body to the plight of artisanal fishers in the region.
The unlawful detention and eventual deportation of small
fishers from the
But rather than hearing them out, Indonesian authorities resorted to curtailment of its rights and false accusation of small fishers’ intention to disrupt and discredit the Indonesian government.
The Indonesian authorities is hallucinating about its worries and apprehensions. On the contrary, the Kilusang Mangingisda (KM), along with its fellow artisanal fishers under SEAFISH for JUSTICE Movement , recognizes and believes on the urgency of solving the climate crisis that we are facing. We likewise, agree on the urgency of resolving the problems of our ocean ecosystems as it is the source of our livelihood and cultural existence.
Yet, we disagree with
the WOC and the CTI
Climate Change is a by product of our long addiction to consumerism and capitalist’s greed for profit at the expense of our environment. Thus, a technocratic approach grossly negates the real cause of our climatic problem and permeates the continuance of unsustainable utilization of our ecosystems in the name of unhampered growth for profits.
The WOC invited in its conference heads of states, government technocrats, scientists, academicians, developments organizations, environment and conservationist yet the foremost victims of the present social malady is unheard and uninvited. Worse, the millions of artisanal fishers and their representatives living along coastal areas are neglected, intimidated, accused of and charged with disrupting the conference.
The Coral Triangle Initiative is clear example of technocratic approach to a social problem. The CTI ambition of wide scale coral protection in the region has its social consequences that its architects refuse to face and answer. As it protects the corals and its ecosystem from further degradation it deprives small fishers’ source of livelihood and welfare. Large scale marine protected areas will only aggravates the poverty situation of small scale fishers as it encroach even municipal or local waters as such is unacceptable. It is an outright disenfranchisement of small fishers rather than protection.
PEOPLE CENTERED CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLAN NOW!
If the WOC is really serious in its objectives to contribute in mitigating climate change it must reconsider its present approach.
Combating climate change through techno-fixes is not the solution. Worse, it may only further aggravate the situation. Climate Change is a social problem and thus need a comprehensive approach that not only consider biodiversity but also people’s livelihood and community welfare. Techno fixes absolves the main culprit of the climate problem and perpetuate a “business as usual” response to the problem.
A people centered climate solution is needed to seriously resolve the problem. Most important are the marginalized sectors that are the most vulnerable victims of its ill effects in society. A genuine solution to climate change must go beyond declarations that are non-binding but must be enforceable and should be complied at by all.
As such, artisanal fishers recognized as one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change demands that they be involved in the whole process of building a comprehensive solution to the problem. Vulnerable sectors must be given premium in all aspect of the climate solution.
Morse so, a genuine solution lies not in the hand of the private corporate sector who is the real culprit to the problem but rest in empowering the people and its community were sustainability and social equity can be really realized.
NO TO TECHNO FIXES to CLIMATE CHANGE
PEOPLE CENTERED CLIMATE ACTION NOW
PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS
KILUSANG MANGINGISDA
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May 15, 2009
