INTERVENTION Kitprasert Nopparat People's Empowerment Foundation, Thailand . Agenda Item 5 : Challenges and problems encountered in the practical implementation of the Declaration Thank you Madame Chair. My name is Kitprasert Nopparat. I represent the People's Empowerment Foundation, an NGO based in Bangkok, Thailand. As stipulated in Article 1.1 of the UNDM, "States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural,religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity", we agree with the provision stated in Draft Recommendation no. 20 which states "Governments have the primary responsibility for implementing the Declaration and other minority rights standards and instruments. States should recognize explicitly the diversity within their respective societies, including with respect to race, ethnicity, religion and language. States should demonstrate their commitment to the protection of minority rights by ensuring that minority issues are consistently integrated into and reflected in governmental policies and practice" However, we are deeply concerned with the challenges and problems encountered in Thailand's implementation of the Declaration, particularly in regard to discrimination toward and lack of protection of the rights of Malayu Muslim minority living in Southern Border Provinces. Following a resurgence of violence in 2004 when an insurgent group robbed guns from a military camp in Naratiwat, the Royal Thai government declared Thailand's Southern Border Provinces of Pattani, Yala, Naratiwat, and some districts of Songkla under Martial Law and later issued two other special laws, namely the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency 2005 and the Internal Security Act 2008.