Taiwan honors Boat People SOS with human rights award

Taipei, Dec. 10 (CNA) The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) bestowed the 2011 Asian Democracy and Human Rights Award on Boat People SOS (BPSOS) of the United States Saturday, in recognition of its dedication to assisting asylum seekers to resettle around the world and stopping human trafficking.

BPSOS Executive Director Nguyen Dinh Thang received the award from President Ma Ying-jeou at the presentation ceremony. Addressing the event, Ma revealed that Taiwan is scheduled to publish a national human rights report in February next year.

In the report, the government will outline Taiwan's progress in implementing two international human rights conventions -- the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Through the report, people will know that "protecting human rights is a fundamental policy of the country, and that the government will spare no efforts to carry it out," Ma said. Nguyen praised Taiwan for its efforts in fighting against human trafficking, saying that he has never before seen a country like Taiwan with such a great determination to crack down on human trafficking.

BPSOS is a Vietnamese American organization that was established in 1980 to assist Vietnamese refugees in finding homes in other countries through cooperation with state governments and non-governmental organizations worldwide. The TFD, a non-profit and non-partisan organization with the purpose of promoting democracy around the world, set up the annual Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award in 2006 to support individuals and organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the peaceful promotion of democratic development and human rights in Asia. (By Emmanuelle Tzeng and Elizabeth Hsu)


(2011-12-10/taiwannews)