Dawei Project

Thirty-six environmental civil society organizations (CSOs) issued a joint statement on February 20 to express deep concerns over the government’s plans to resume the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which has been suspended since U Thein Sein Administration, in November 2013. U Bo Bo Aung, Spokesperson for the CSOs’ statement, said the governments of Burma, Thailand, and Japan and the…

The Karen National Union (KNU) demanded negotiations with the union government over the plan to resume the construction of a two-lane highway connecting Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which has been suspended during U Thein Sein Administration in 2013, and the Thai border. The KNU issued a statement on February 1 in response to the government’s announcement on December 2,…

The number of quarries in Mon State is quickly increasing and locals say authorities fail to regulate their environmental impact on farmlands. PAUNG TOWNSHIP, Mon State – On a recent afternoon in May, the farmers of Ohn Titbin Village Tract were tending to their betel nut and rubber plantations when a loud blast erupted at the foot of Kalama Mountain…

Shan community representatives presented 23,717 signatures opposing the construction of plans to dams the Salween River to the Australian company doing the environmental and social impact assessments (EIA/SIA) for the Mong Ton dam in southern Shan State. The Shan community representatives delivered their petition to the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) offices in Yangon. The Mong Ton dam is the…

The Australian Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation’s (SMEC) cancelled its plans to hold a public meeting to discuss the Mong Ton mega-dam on the Salween River after hearing that hundreds of villagers were going to hold a protest against the dam. The Shan Human Rights Foundation said in statement released to the media said that a public meeting planned by the…

It is expected that Thailand’s Prime Minister’s, Prayut Chan-o-cha’s will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the $60 billion Dawei mega project during his visit to Japan next week. The cabinet on Tuesday approved a wide-ranging economic partnership with Japan that will be signed during Prime Minister official visit next week. It was reported in the Bangkok Post that…

A meeting between villagers, company officials and officials from both the Karen National Union and the government was held on Tuesday, January 6 to discuss and resolve problems of land destruction caused by coal mining in Southern Burma’s Tanitharyi Division. Coal mining carried out by May Flower company, Thai Asset Company and East Star Company in the area of Ban…

The Dawei Special Economic Zone is threatening local peoples’ way of life, according to a report by the Tavoyan Women’s Union. The DSEZ, a joint venture of Thailand and Burma, has faced controversy since it’s inception with local and international human rights organisations expressing concerns over the project’s affect on the lives of people living in the zone. According to…

Representatives from civil society groups, religious leaders and villages in the Tanitharyi Division have sent a petition letter to both the government’s Division Chief Minister and the Karen National Union’s Megui/Tavoy District chairperson to try to get development projects stopped that villagers claim are health hazards. The petition sent on October 13, was signed by 125 representatives from 46 villages,…

Dawei residents in Southern Burma held a press conference on November 12 in Rangoon in an attempt to highlight what the residents have had to face because of mining in the region. The Dawei villagers from the western Dawei area said the mining has been going on before and after ceasefire agreements between the Karen National Union and the government.…