Focus Taiwan, March 15, 2017
Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Vietnamese migrant workers and human rights activists staged a protest in Taipei on Wednesday to demand that the Vietnamese government compensate the victims of an environmental disaster in Vietnam last year that was caused by a Taiwanese-owned steel factory.
The protesters rallied in front of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, holding placards that read “Formosa get out of Vietnam.”
The protesters demanded that the Vietnamese government explain the whereabouts of US$500 million it received from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. (台塑河靜鋼鐵), a unit of Taiwan conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, as compensation for one of Vietnam’s worst environmental disasters in modern history.
The steel factory was found to be responsible for a chemical spill that killed fish and destroyed marine life along a 200-kilometer stretch of coastline in central Vietnam in April last year.
The company has since issued a public apology and paid US$500 million in compensation to the Vietnamese government. But human rights activists said the money did not go to the victims, many of whom are fishermen who lost their livelihoods due to the chemical spill.
“We demand that Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. and the Vietnamese government give the US$500 million compensation money to the victims in an open and transparent way,” said Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung, a Catholic priest, human rights activist and executive director of the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office.
Chang Yu-yin (張譽尹), president of the Environmental Jurists Association, said the disaster was caused by the unethical behavior of a Taiwanese company, as well as by negligence on the part of the Vietnamese government.
He criticized Taiwan for exporting high-polluting industries to Vietnam, saying that those industries have made Vietnam a less habitable place.
The protesters, among them victims of the disaster, also urged the Vietnamese government to release detained individuals, such as the popular blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who have spoken out against the government for its handling of the disaster.
A representative of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei on Wednesday received a petition from the protesters but did not respond to their requests.
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March 16, 2017
Vietnamese workers protest in Taipei against Formosa mill pollution
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Focus Taiwan, March 15, 2017
Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Vietnamese migrant workers and human rights activists staged a protest in Taipei on Wednesday to demand that the Vietnamese government compensate the victims of an environmental disaster in Vietnam last year that was caused by a Taiwanese-owned steel factory.
The protesters rallied in front of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, holding placards that read “Formosa get out of Vietnam.”
The protesters demanded that the Vietnamese government explain the whereabouts of US$500 million it received from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. (台塑河靜鋼鐵), a unit of Taiwan conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, as compensation for one of Vietnam’s worst environmental disasters in modern history.
The steel factory was found to be responsible for a chemical spill that killed fish and destroyed marine life along a 200-kilometer stretch of coastline in central Vietnam in April last year.
The company has since issued a public apology and paid US$500 million in compensation to the Vietnamese government. But human rights activists said the money did not go to the victims, many of whom are fishermen who lost their livelihoods due to the chemical spill.
“We demand that Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. and the Vietnamese government give the US$500 million compensation money to the victims in an open and transparent way,” said Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung, a Catholic priest, human rights activist and executive director of the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office.
Chang Yu-yin (張譽尹), president of the Environmental Jurists Association, said the disaster was caused by the unethical behavior of a Taiwanese company, as well as by negligence on the part of the Vietnamese government.
He criticized Taiwan for exporting high-polluting industries to Vietnam, saying that those industries have made Vietnam a less habitable place.
The protesters, among them victims of the disaster, also urged the Vietnamese government to release detained individuals, such as the popular blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who have spoken out against the government for its handling of the disaster.
A representative of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei on Wednesday received a petition from the protesters but did not respond to their requests.