61,000 Signatures Collected in Online Petition for Formosa Disaster Compensation

A public petition calling for proper compensation in the Formosa environmental case posted on the website: https://thamhoaformosa.com (meaning Formosa disaster) has drawn in over 61,000 signatures as of March 27, the Radio Free Asia (RFA)’s Vietnamese outlet reported. The petition brought attention back to the natural disaster that took place in April 2016 and prolonged till now. The case has left many households along Vietnam’s central coastal region in misery because of unemployment and poor compensation. The petition also rang alarm bell over the serious damages to Vietnamese livelihood when Formosa still continues to discharge its waste into the sea and bury its solid waste onshore. Priest Dang Huu Nam from the Phu Yen diocese in Quynh Luu district of the central province of Nghe An last week said local Catholic followers remain determined to file their lawsuits against Formosa even if they would continue to face oppression. The goal of the website is to reach 75,000 signatures and later send the petition to the Taiwanese Government, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the European Union (EU), the World Bank (WB), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), among other international environmental watchdogs. By doing so, they hope international support could push the Vietnamese Government to soon rectify the environmental consequences and improve life of Vietnamese victims. (RFA Vietnamese; VOA Vietnamese March 27)