<p>Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, former Superintendent of Kaeng Krachan National Park, has filed a perjury complaint against human rights lawyer Waraporn Utairangsee, who was the legal representative for the Bang Kloi Indigenous Karen community and its spiritual leader Ko-i Meemi.</p>

<p>Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community who came to join the protest organized by the People&rsquo;s Movement for Just Society (P-Move) returned home yesterday (3 February 2022) after the government agreed to set up an independent committee to solve community rights issues facing them.</p>

<p>The Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community continues to face ongoing land rights and food security issues despite an MOU signed with government officials in early 2021.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a statement following the inscription of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as World Heritage site acknowledging the World Heritage Committee&#39;s decision and emphasise that nature conservation must respect the rights of indigenous peoples to the territories they have traditionally owned and used.</p>

<p>The Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex was named a natural World Heritage site during the World Heritage Committee meeting on 26 July despite ongoing concerns about human rights violations against indigenous communities in the forest area.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Thai government is insisting on nominating the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex for World Heritage status despite a recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for the nomination to be postponed due to concerns regarding human rights violations against indigenous communities in the area</p>

<p>Thailand&rsquo;s nomination of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex for World Heritage status should once again be deferred due to concerns about violations of the rights of local indigenous communities, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).</p>

<p>22 members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community who were <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9104">detained</a> on Friday (5 March) were granted temporarily release by the Phetchaburi Provincial Court on Sunday (7 March).</p>

<p>87 members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community, who travelled back to the location of their former village in the Kaeng Krachan forest, have been forcibly taken out of the forest and arrested by park officials, police, and military officers.</p>

<p>After being forcibly evacuated from their ancestral homeland in the Kaeng Krachan forest twice, the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community has been facing community rights issues, which remain unresolved. The community is now at risk of another forced evacuation, while Thailand still has no legislation protecting indigenous rights.</p>

<p>Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community and the activist Save Bang Kloi Coalition have gathered at the Chamai Maruchet Bridge for the past three days to demand protection for members of the Bang Kloi Community who returned to their ancestral home.</p>

<p>Following a report that&nbsp;members of the Bang Kloi Karen community have returned to their ancestral land at Chai Phaen Din, the remaining community members and a network of civil society organizations have issued a statement calling for the authorities to allow the community to stay at Chai Phaen Din until a resolution is reached, and must not conduct any operation that affects them.&nbsp;</p>