Mining

The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) met on 11 September to hear a complaint against the Ben Chaung Coal Mine. The coalmine is located in the Thanintharyi Region of Burma and three Thai companies are involved. The complaint, filed by representatives of indigenous Karen communities with the support of local and international NGOs, alleges the open-pit mine has…

A company soliciting public backing for its rock quarry project received instead a deluge of fury and objections during a consultation held over this past weekend. The Explosives Consultation and Application Myanmar Company held an initial public meeting with Karen State residents on August 19 to test the waters. About 300 residents attended the discussion with the ECA company’s managing…

Villagers from Ka Htaung Li village who protested against a gold mining operation that polluted their water sources alleged that they were harassed, punished and warned not to do it again by a Burma Army officer. Villagers alleged that Lieutenant Colonel Than Htike, the battalion commander of Infantry Battalion 62 under Tactical Command 1 of Military Operation Command 19 based…

On December 22, a China-Myanmar joint venture developing a copper mine in central Myanmar announced that it had gained “broad community support” to continue the controversial project and that it would be expanding the area covered by the mine. The day ended with 56-year old Daw Khin Win shot dead and two other villagers injured as police opened fire with…

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…

A coalition of Shan community based organizations has said a moratorium on resource extraction is urgently needed until there is nationwide peace and a discussion on the control and management of the country’s natural resources, much of which are in ethnic areas. The Shan CBOs referred to an anti-mining protest held on 5th September by 3,000 villagers in the town…

Villagers from Myaung Byo, located in Dawei District, have filed a court case over damages allegedly caused by the Heinda mining project operated by Myanmar Pongpipat Company Ltd. “It has had many negative social and economic impacts on our community,” Myaung Byo’s villagers said in a joint statement. Myaung Byo village has around 100 households, with over 500 people, locals…

Villagers in Ka Taw Ni village in Southern Burma alleged that a Thai coal mining company used the local Burmese Army to threaten them for protesting for the closure of its coal mine. A villager in Ka Taw Ni, who asked not to be named for fear for his security, told Karen News. “On November 30, a group of Burma…

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.…

Villagers in southern Burma are demanding that a Thai coal mining company operating in their area return land that the claim the company is occupying is rightfully theirs. More than 13 villagers from Ah Mla, east of Dawei, want the East Star Company to return land that the villagers alleged that the mining company took for their camp and coal…