Please note: this information is being updated as more news comes through as these global issues are ongoing and there is always new information that comes up.
What is happening in Asia + How You Can Help:
Protests and massive issues are happening and citizens in different parts of Asia will not stop at anything in order to fight for their rights. With this guide, we hope to give everyone on our platform an outline of how and why you should take action.
There is no doubt that the Thailand government and all of those who hold a higher power abuse this power for reasons that are simply; devastating. After a court decision was made to dismantle the pro-democracy party Future Forward Party. Many protesters say the move was politically motivated. The rights of young voters were taken from them after the election was supposed to return Thailand to democracy but did the exact opposite. Read more here.
Take Action
Just today on (October 16th 2020) After an attempt by a France graduate student who had created a petition that started to gain traction was taken down for allegedly “Thailand's Computer Crime Act” the petition became unavailable to all of those in Thailand and only limited to those on the outside of Thailand. This petition has been put in place to encourage Democracy for Thailand and can be found here.
Hong Kong Protests
As of early this morning on (October 16th, 2020) it has been stated by the Canadian Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu in favour of not granting asylum to Canadian Hong Kong citizens Canada's Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne insists on ensuring that; "I have instructed Global Affairs to call the ambassador in to make clear in no uncertain terms that Canada will always stand up for human rights and the rights of Canadians around the world," More on this can be found here.
Take Action
Below, we have listed an email template that will be sent directly to the government of Hong Kong with an email that you provide HERE. If you can not access the link to this email template it can be found below courtesy of Amnesty International Canada:
Recipient:
Carrie Lam - Chief Executive for the Government of Hong Kong ceo@ceo.gov.hk
Dear Chief Executive Lam,
I am writing to express my grave concern that the Hong Kong authorities are using aggressive policing which violates international human rights laws and standards against protesters, and the apparent impunity for the ensuing excessive use of force by the police resulted by your government’s refusal to establish a separate and independent investigatory mechanism to look into allegations of widespread human rights violations during the protests in 2019 and presently today.
Amnesty International has documented unnecessary and excessive use of force by police on largely peaceful protesters, arbitrary arrests and retaliatory violence against arrested persons in custody, as well as police’s inaction when protesters were facing violent attacks by counter-protesters and other people, both in the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in 2014, the Extradition Bill protests starting from April 2019 and in between. Police frequently use the Public Order Ordinance to ban or place unreasonable limits on peaceful protests, and use vague charges related to “unlawful assembly” or “unauthorized assembly” under the law to arrest, harass and prosecute peaceful protesters. There is a grave concern about the lack of accountability for police’s unlawful use of force and other abuses in protests.
I urge you to immediately take necessary measures to establish a fully independent commission mandated to effectively conduct investigations into inappropriate use of force or other abuse by police that can contribute to finding truth and delivering justice, as well as respect and ensure people’s human rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Yours sincerely,
*insert your name/signature*
Air Pollution in Mongolia
The most polluted air in Mongolia is found in Ulaanbaatar, where 46% of the country's population resides. The defining characteristic of air pollution in Mongolia – as in many countries – is the high concentration of particulate matter. ... Fine particulate pollution has health impacts even at very low concentrations. To read more click here.
Take action
A petition has been put together in the efforts to reach out to the UN office and has been in contact with the office in order to try and put forward more ACTIONS than words for the concerns of the health for children with the outrageous amounts of pollution that surrounds the lives of Mongolia. You can sign the petition here
Junk Terror Bill in the Philippines
This bill was put into effect intended to prevent and prohibit as well as penalize terrorism in the Philippines but after just months of having it signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, because now the mere suspicion of being out on the streets in groups or as individuals gives the government the lawful ability to detain them without charges for up to 24 days.
Take Action
Raise awareness on social media. The hashtag for this movement to dismantle the Junk Terror Bill in the Philippines includes the hashtags: #HandsOffHumanRightsDefendersPH & #JunkTerrorLaw
And in order to stay in the know, following these accounts: @canada_ichrp; @EmMijares; @NCCPhils; @karapatan; @TinayPalabay; @NUPLPhilippines. To Demand the Duterte administration through the Philippine Congress to repeal the Anti-Terrorism Law sign this petition HERE.
This information is courtesy of the World 350.org & the Kairos Canada Organization (their article on the Junk Terror Bill in the Philippines can be found here).
Uyghur Concentration Camps
In March 2017, China’s government launched a mass crackdown against the Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority group who live primarily in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, as well as other Turkic Muslim minorities in the region. The crackdown, allegedly a counter-extremism measure, includes implementation of a widespread arbitrary detention policy with the aim of “re-educating” the Uyghurs. An estimated 1 million people, as of 2019, are being detained in these internment camps for minor violations, without formal charges or access to legal representation. To read more click here.
Take Action
This resources and action guide includes a number of resources including:
Petitions
An email template
Phone call template
And where to donate