Ethnic Karen Communities in Southern Burma Encounter the Impacts of Mining

April 21, 2014

Karen people living in Ka Htaung Nee villages, in Mitar sub-township, Tavoy district, located in the Tenasserim Region are experiencing increased air and water pollution due to mining activities in the region. May Flower Mining Enterprises Limited and No. 3 Mining Enterprise have joined together to mine in the Ka Htaung Nee village group without consulting the local population, nor considering the effects that their business in the area will have on the local environment, eco system, residents’ livelihoods, or local plantations. As local residents’ land and crops are destroyed, air and water polluted, they do not receive any compensation, and their rights are ignored.

According to a local source from the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), who has conducted four days of field survey in the region, if this situation continues, it may incite riots and affect Burma’s peace building process.

Eco-system observers have concluded that the area east of Tavoy region, which is rich in non-renewable resources, finds itself in a dangerous situation. Authorities and government-backed businessmen have ignored the rights of the local ethnic people of the region, and have left them out of any decision making in regards to extracting resources from the ethnic area.

Ethnic Karen people of the Ka Htaung Nee village group, from villages such as Ban Chaung Khun Chaung, Khun Chaung Kyi Kyar, and Khun Chaung villages experience the negative impacts of mining by the May Flower Mining Enterprises Ltd. and No. 3 Mining Enterprise every day. The local people are forced to breathe in gas pollution and dust from company trucks carrying coal daily through the villages. Further, the companies’ truck drivers have not had any consideration for the local people, as many residents’ betel nut, mango, and cashew trees have been destroyed by passing trucks.

Local villager, Saw Thar Wa, 40, explains to HURFOM’s field reporter effects from the mining; “As you can see, our villagers have to breathe this dust and air pollution every day. It is [a] very worrying situation for old people and children. Some children [have gotten] ill because they had to breathe the carbon dioxide, dust, and sand powder in the air every time the truck carrying coal passes by. After digging for mining, [the companies] discard the soil nearby and it covers our land. Some villagers’ plantations are located on the hill, when the companies broke down the hill, a lot of plantations nearby were destroyed. The company talked about compensation before, but now they keep silent about it. We don’t know if there is a deal between Karen armed group leaders and the companies. The Karen armed group leaders have talked to the locals in the same manner that the Burmese authorities did, [saying] that the mining is for community development’s sake. It is really disappointing. We can’t decide who we should rely on and ask for help”.

One Ka Htaung Nee area church leader expounds upon residents’ concerns, “Instead of asking and having public opinion for extracting resources, the Karen armed group leaders have complied with the authorities, and allowed May Flower Mining Enterprises Ltd. to monopolize the local people.

“After mining and extracting”, the church leader says, “The companies allowed the Thai Easter Company to trade and sell the resources. We directly asked the Thai company to work systematically, but they said they were already taxed and paid the government. [The Thai Easter Company] replied that, ‘this kind of work always has disorder of its own, but we already paid and supported your government’. Most Karen people believe less in the Karen armed group leader. The worst situation is that [the mining] is polluting our water. We have no idea what to do”.

Local residents have informed the Thai Easter Company to stop all trading and transporting of coal and commodities from the region, but Military Operation Management Command No. 19, as well as Karen armed group leaders, allow the Thai company to continue. Local people feel dissatisfied and disappointed that their attempts to stop the mining were not successful.

“We also attempted to submit the statements of local people to the Tenasserim Region government department and Nay Pyi Daw after gathering local opinion about the impact of mining occurring in the local area”, explains one young Karen man who submitted the letter on behalf of the local Karen people. “But”, he says, “we got no response”.

According to the residents, the purpose of submitting the complaints was not to stop the mining, or to affect government economics, but for the local Karen people to be treated equally, treated with justice, to gain access to benefits from the mining, and to stop the negative effects mining has caused on the Karen people and the local environment.

The companies are allowed to mine 8,600 acres of land in Karen areas, land which is located in the villages of Ban Chaung Khun Chaung Ka Lay, Khun Chaung Kyi Kyar, and Khun Chaung. In 2011, The Burmese government agreed to allow mining, with mining starting last year. Since the introduction of mining in the area, the environment, betel nut plantations, gardens, and the eco-system have been affected tremendously. All of the area’s streams have become impure and polluted, and there are no more grazing herds or animals to be found in areas surrounding mining locations.

“The children are coughing more. The villagers face symptoms of difficult breathing. The people suffer diarrhea even in winter because of unpurified water. The companies still extract the coal disorderly. If they keep continuing like that, we all will die”, concludes a Karen education servant, 26, on the area’s health perspective.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News