'Joint Statement of South Korean Civil Society on the Massacre Targeting Indigenous People of the Philippines', 06 January 2021

On December 30th, during a joint police and military operation at Capiz, Panay Island and in Iloilo province 9 leaders of the indigenous Tumandok were killed, and 17 residents were arrested... Korean civil society has also denounced the Philippine government’s extrajudicial murders and the anti-terrorism legislation that encourages such actions. The reason why Korean civil society is paying attention to the massacre of Tumandok indigenous people is because Tumandok residents have been opposing the “Jalaur Mega Dam project (Phase 2)”. The “Jalaur Mega Dam project (Phase 2)” began in 2012, when the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) decided to provide concessional loans in the amount 250 billion Korean Won... Local residents who suffered both direct and indirect damage from the dam project have been opposing the construction, citing the risk of earthquakes, forced evictions, damage to ancestral graves, and violations of Philippine domestic and international laws... activists and indigenous people opposed to the dam project are suffering human rights violations due to the Duterte government’s “Red-Tagging”... The South Korean government, the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), and construction company Daewoo E&C should suspend the construction of the Jalaur Dam...