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Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 15 to 21, 2024)

June 23, 2024/in HR Situation, News

Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from June 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Kachin State, and Rakhine State from June 15th to 21st. The Military Junta used drones and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region and Mon State. The political prisoners from O-Bo […]

Collapse at notorious Myanmar rare earth mine kills 15 people

June 21, 2024/in News

Boom in unregulated mining is fueled by demand from China and beyond for minerals used in electric vehicles. Rescuers recovered the bodies of 15 mine workers in northern Myanmar on Friday after a landslide at a rare earths mine, residents said, the latest deaths in an unregulated industry feeding surging demand for the minerals in China and […]

Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 15 to 21, 2024)

June 23, 2024/in HR Situation, News

Collapse at notorious Myanmar rare earth mine kills 15 people

June 21, 2024/in News

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Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 15 to 21, 2024)

June 23, 2024/in HR Situation, News

Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from June 15 to 21, 2024

Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Kachin State, and Rakhine State from June 15th to 21st. The Military Junta used drones and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region and Mon State. The political prisoners from O-Bo Prison, Mandalay Region, and Kyaikmaraw Prison, Mon State, were relocated. The head of the Prison who works under The Military threatened, arrested, and tortured the female political prisoners, and over 80 people were injured in Daik-U Prison, East Bago Region. The Military arrested the civilians who sold and wore the flowers on the birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on June 19th.

Almost 20 civilians died, and over 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. The Military Junta arrested over 280 civilians within a week. 3 civilians died in the land mines of the Military Junta Troop.

2024 June 15 to 21 (EE)
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Collapse at notorious Myanmar rare earth mine kills 15 people

June 21, 2024/in News

Boom in unregulated mining is fueled by demand from China and beyond for minerals used in electric vehicles.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of 15 mine workers in northern Myanmar on Friday after a landslide at a rare earths mine, residents said, the latest deaths in an unregulated industry feeding surging demand for the minerals in China and beyond.

Thirty workers, most of them young men, were trapped in the Pang War mine in Kachin state when the collapse occurred at around midnight on Wednesday, a relative of one of the missing miners told Radio Free Asia.

“Fifteen bodies have been found so far. Two women were among them,” said the resident, who like other sources in this article declined to be identified for security reasons.

A Chinese national and 13 other workers were still missing on Thursday, residents told RFA.

The landslide was the second major disaster at the mine this month. A June 4 landslide killed more than 20 people, including three Chinese citizens.

There have been several other smaller landslides there since late May. Wednesday’s slide overtook a living area and facility where the minerals are processed, a Pang War miner said.

“Currently, it is the rainy season,” he said. “Over the past week, continuous rainfall has weakened the ground.”

Another Pang War resident told RFA that landslides weren’t a common occurrence during previous rainy seasons.

“However, due to the fragmentation caused by extensive digging, the mountains have weakened significantly and lost their stability,” he said. “Additionally, deforestation has exacerbated this situation.”

Elements for electric vehicles

A surge in the illegal mining of rare earth metals in northern Myanmar is being driven by demand from neighboring China for terbium and dysprosium – elements that are used in the production of electric vehicles, environmental activists say.

Pang War is in an area under the control of junta forces but the mining and the pollution it generates are largely unregulated.

RFA called Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, for information on the landslide but he did not immediately respond.

Environmentalists say companies from China, where mining has become increasingly regulated due to safety and environmental concerns, fund the mining and ship the ore across the nearby border for processing and sale into global supply chains.

Chinese nationals are increasingly seen working at the mines, residents say. RFA contacted China’s embassy in Myanmar for comment but it did not reply by the time of publication.

The number of rare earth mines in resource-rich Kachin state grew by 40% between 2021 and 2023, the environmental group Global Witness said in a recent report. There are more than 300 mines in the state’s Special Region 1 of the township, it said.

There has also been an increase of fighting in the state between junta forces and the autonomy-seeking Kachin Independence Army, at times over access to resources and trade routes.

The fighting this year has displaced and killed civilians and comes as forces of the junta that seized power in a 2021 coup have faced setbacks in several parts of the country including Kachin state.

Environmental activists say all sides in Myanmar’s northernmost state seek profits from its resources, including from rare earths.

RFA News

Spring Revolution

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)September 20, 2024 - 2:30 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 8 to 14, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Magway Region, Shan State, Kachin State, and Rakhine State from September 8th to 14th. Military Junta arrested the civilians as human shields from Mindon Township, Magway Region, and Salingyi Township, […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)September 13, 2024 - 5:08 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 1 to 7, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, and Shan State from September 1st to 7th. The Military Junta threatened that they would launch airstrikes on the townships which they lost. The […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (Aug 22 to 31, 2024)September 7, 2024 - 4:09 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Aug 22 to 31, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Bago Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, and Shan State from August 22nd to 31st. Head of Prison which works under Military Junta, tortured and blackmailed the […]

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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