A young women lawyer working with indigenous Lepcha activists to protect the last free flowing stretch of the Teesta from a destructive dam. By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Melanie Scaife The Teesta River originates in the eastern Himalayas, winding its way through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal…
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By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Sarah Bardeen What is a river? The dictionary defines a river as “a natural stream of water of usually considerable volume” or, quite simply, a “watercourse.” But at our “Dialogue on the Rights of Rivers,” which took place in Delhi, India from March 6-7, 2020,…
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By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Melanie Scaife Mayalmit Lepcha grew up listening to the sounds of the Rongyoung River, which flows past her village in Dzongu, in the Indian state of Sikkim. This tiny state lies in the heart of the Himalayas between Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, and is a…
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By: Pai Deetes Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director This article was originally featured on the Bangkok Post Over the past few months, the Irrigation Department and the House Committee Review of Integrated River Basin Management have been heavily promoting an inter-basin water diversion scheme. Planned projects will divert water across Thailand, incorporating international river basins,…
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Nestled beside Asia’s last free-flowing river, the Salween Peace Park in Myanmar’s Karen State (officially called Kayin State) is protecting the rights of Indigenous Karen people to self-determination, cultural survival and environmental conservation. By Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Burma/Myanmar Campaigns Director Introduction In Myanmar’s Karen State, the Indigenous Karen people have turned a war zone…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bangkok, July 23, 2020 – Two years ago today, at least 70 people died or disappeared and over 7000 were displaced when a dam collapsed in Laos, submerging homes, families and entire villages under a rushing wall of water. On the second anniversary of the disaster, those affected are yet to see justice….
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By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director & Pai Deetes, Thailand & Myanmar Campaigns Director Last week we lost a champion for the Mekong and Salween Rivers, Kraisak Choonhavan, a long time supporter and friend of International Rivers. Senator Kraisak passed away on 11 June after a long battle with cancer. He held many roles during the course…
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By: Save the Mekong Coalition On 11 May, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) announced that the proposed Sanakham hydropower project in Laos will undergo the MRC’s Prior Consultation process.[1] Sanakham is the sixth mainstream dam to be submitted for Prior Consultation. Opposing the Sanakham Dam The proposed Sanakham dam is expensive, unnecessary and risky – and…
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By: Pai Deetes, Thailand & Myanmar Campaigns Director The global Covid-19 crisis has shed a light on the deep-seated inequities in the way our rivers and the people who depend on them are treated. With the exposure created by this crisis comes an opportunity. As International Rivers adapts to current circumstances, we are strengthening our…
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BY: Pai Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director Originally published on the Bangkok Post Muesaw Chokedilok, an ethnic Karen woman from Thailand’s Kaburdin Village in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi district, hops aboard an old pickup truck for a rugged ride up the mountain. With her are a group of housewives from the same village, all clad…
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By: Pai Deetes, Thailand & Myanmar Campaigns Director FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Today, the Network of Thai People in Eight Mekong Provinces submits additional evidence to the Thai Supreme Administrative Court in the ongoing lawsuit regarding the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River in Laos. The lawsuit targets five Thai state agencies and challenges the legitimacy…
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