確保老一輩漢生病友的各項權益
Anwei Skinsnes Law, M.P.H.
IDEA總部跨國協調員
家和親屬是普世最重要的，如果沒有家和親屬，我們會是什麼？
當漢生病友被迫和原生家庭分離後，為了生存，他們創造新的家庭，由漢生病友組成，彼此扶持，他們創造了夏威夷Kalaupapa以及樂生院這樣的社區。
IDEA是聯合國人權委員會的諮詢單位，IDEA的高層由漢生病友組成，他們協助聯合國爭取最弱勢的人的權益，尤其是漢生病友的權益。
我們認為下一代有知道他們完整歷史的權利，這當然包括麻瘋病的歷史，這段歷史展現人性最黑暗的一面與最美好的一面，他告訴我們，當一個人喪失一切時，仍然可以發光發熱。
IDEA認為樂生是一個重要的世界歷史地點，如果我們的下一代珍惜漢生病的歷史作為人類重要的歷史，我們相信世界會變得更好。
來自世界各國的人，對於樂生院民爭取正義的堅定意志，相當欽佩，樂生院民讓台灣社會認識物質之外更深層的意義，他們爭取居住權和親屬權的過程，提醒我們被奪走家和親屬的痛苦，也告訴我們，這種以開發之名，企圖抹滅漢生病歷史是無法被接受的。
Ensuring the Rights of the Older Generation of Persons Affected by Leprosy/Hansen’s Disease
Anwei Skinsnes Law, M.P.H.
International Coordinator, IDEA
Home and Family – these are universally regarded as the most important things in the life of an individual. We can all ask ourselves, where would we be without our home and our family?
The human spirit is a remarkable thing. It has enabled millions of people around the world, to survive the tragedy of being separated from their families, simply because they had leprosy. They survived by creating a new family made up of other individuals who had also been taken away from all they held dear. They created communities like Kalaupapa in Hawaii and Lo Sheng in Taiwan.
These places used to be very remote areas. Now throughout the world, economic development has surrounded these places and seeks to erase them and their memory from history.
Our organization, IDEA, has been granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, which includes the U.N. Human Rights Commission. IDEA’s leadership is primarily made up of people who have had leprosy themselves. They have been chosen as experts by the United Nations to help guide decisions regarding the most basic rights of every human being, but particularly those individuals who have had leprosy. In discussions on leprosy and human rights at the United Nations, IDEA has made the rights of the older generation of people affected by leprosy a priority.
We must also consider an important right of society, especially of future generations. That is the right to know their full history and this includes the most important history of people who have had leprosy. This history shows the best, and the worst, of humanity. It shows how the magnificence of the human spirit can shine through, even when a person loses everything.
IDEA recognizes Lo Sheng as a historical site of world significance. We believe that the young people of Taiwan and other young people in the world will become better people if they are aware of this history and recognize that this is part of their history.
People around the world continue to thank the residents of Lo Sheng for showing their remarkable belief in the power of justice to overcome every obstacle. The people of Lo Sheng are challenging people here in Taiwan, and also throughout the world, to look deep inside ourselves – to look beyond our material needs. They are reminding us of the importance of home and family by insisting on retaining the right to the home and family that they created for themselves when they were forcibly taken from their own families. Equally important, they are standing up for future generations by reminding us that it is unacceptable to erase history in the name of “progress.”