Student from Thailand/London School of Economics
Thank you, Chair, for giving me the floor. I am ? representing the Malay Muslim youth from Patani,
the southern border provinces of Thailand. In Thailand, minority youth have access to the social
media thanks to the government and our private sector that on improvement of technology and the
internet equality. But one critical problem that our young people have been facing is the backlash
that they receive whenever they generate discussion relating to politics and human rights violation
cases that they have witnessed.
Their Facebook posts and photos will be repeatedly used for discrimination and accusation. For
example, accusing for being national traitors and separatists. In some cases, the victim has reported
to the police but no investigation is conducted. And this might be a form of discrimination. I think if
the state doesn't try to understand and tolerate diversity of political views- if the state doesn’t try to
welcome discussions with minority youth, it will be difficult to mobilize inclusive development of the
country. So, I would like to ask our Special Rapporteur and also state representative here, how can
we ensure security of young people who would like to be part of discussion in the media. And also,
my last point is that building a coalition between minority youth is not enough. For a long-term
solution, we should also aim to reach out to the majority youth to foster a correct understanding
about minority people from conflict area. Thank you very much.