Illegal Mining Boom Poisoning Land, Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine: MMWN

By The Irrawaddy 30 May 2023

The Myanmar Mining Watch Network (MMWN) has called for all mining operations in ethnic areas to cease, warning that a surge in illegal extraction since the 2021 coup is destroying the environment and communities.

In a statement issued on Monday, the network said increased mining is evident in ethnic areas such as Kachin, Shan, Karenni, and Karen states, where extraction has intensified for resources such as gold, tin, nickel, steel, zinc, coal, jade, rare earth minerals, and platinum.

"The coup d’état military council has allowed its allied militias to levy taxes, and the military dictator has declared itself a caretaker government, but doesn't respect the rule of law," the network said.

Ethnic armed organizations are also becoming deeply involved in mining, it added.

MMWN is a social network of 11 organizations established in 2016.

With rule of law absent, the illegal mining boom had brought increasing loss of life due to landslides caused by huge machinery and drownings in pit lakes, plus more drug use around mining sites, forced displacement, and use of forced labor including child workers, the network said.

Meanwhile, chemicals used in the mining are poisoning fields and water sources, leading to a scarcity of drinking water, agricultural land, various fish species in rivers, animals, medicinal plants, and other flora and fauna, it added.

Illegal gold mining has increased tenfold in Kachin state since the military seized power in 2021, according to Kachin State Accountability Resource Governance group (K-SAG).

A study released on Sunday by MMWN showed serious environmental and social impacts in Kachin State from an increase in gold-mining activity downstream of the Irrawaddy River confluence.

The junta and an affiliated militia are granting permits and collecting taxes from gold miners here despite lacking any legitimacy to do so, the network stated.

It added that revenue from mining was aiding the purchase of military equipment being used against civilians, and particularly ethnic peoples and other minorities.

Mining for rare earth minerals has also increased sharply in northern Kachin State, bordering China, since the coup.

Global Witness reported last August that there were just a handful of rare earth mining units in Kachin State a few years ago, but following the coup the numbers soared to 2,700, at almost 300 separate locations, covering an area the size of Singapore.

"If the mining continues at the current rate and manner, local communities in Kachin State are at a severe and fast risk of losing their livelihood, health, forest and water resources [while] Kachin cultural and historical heritage will disappear in the near future," MMWN said.

Locals who have pushed back against the mining have suffered intimidation, assaults, and threats, while their requests for damage compensation have been denied, the network said.

It also urged the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) to blacklist organizations that finance mining operations for the military regime, abolish laws that threaten natural resources, and implement a federal system to govern natural resources that respects indigenous people's rights, including their right to participate in decision-making.

Topics: civilian deaths, Environment, junta, Mining, Rule of Law