BANMAW (UCAN): Church leaders in Myanmar are up in arms against unregulated mining for rare earth elements—widely used in the production of high-tech devices like smartphones, computers, electric vehicles and solar cells—in the conflict-torn the country’s Kachin state.
Mining for rare earth has increased sharply in northern mineral-rich Kachin state following the toppling of Myanmar’s civilian government by the military on 1 February 2021 [Sunday Examiner, 7 February 2021].
“We are concerned about the effects of environmental degradation, the livelihoods of local communities and the wellbeing of animals due to the extraction of rare earth,” said Church leaders from the Diocese of Banmaw in Kachin, where unregulated rare earth mining is in full swing.
In a letter, signed by Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam and four other diocesan leaders, including the vicar general and the chancellor, on March 4, they said rare earth minerals are a gift from God so “we have the responsibility to protect them.”
The appeal came after the local community protested against rare earth mining in N’Bar Par and surrounding villages in Mansi township.
The protesters called on companies involved and the Kachin Independence Army, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation, which has been fighting for self-determination and autonomy for decades, to halt the mining, citing the impact on the environment, wildlife and local communities.
There were just a handful of rare earth mining units in Kachin in 2016, but by March 2022 their numbers swelled to 2,700, spread over 300 separate locations, covering an area the size of Singapore, according to a Global Witness Report from August 2022.
It [rare earth mining] is becoming a hot issue in our region, so the Church shows its stance on the issue and advocates for the protection of natural resources,
Bishop Gam
Rare earth production in Kachin state has helped Myanmar become the world’s third-largest producer behind China and the US, according to United States Geological Survey data. Most of Myanmar’s production is exported to China.
“It [rare earth mining] is becoming a hot issue in our region, so the Church shows its stance on the issue and advocates for the protection of natural resources,” Gam said.
“Both the concerned parties and local communities need to have patience and listen to one another and solve it peacefully to avoid confrontation,” the bishop said.
“The companies have faced strong opposition from the local community who continue to fight for halting the project,” a Church leader, who did not want to be named, remarked.
Many of the mining companies have been operating here against local people’s wishes for a decade, another Church leader said.
The diocesan leader who earlier visited one of the sites near the border with China, said, “The operations are done one hill after another, affecting the villagers’ livelihoods, farming, drinking water and health.”
Kachin state has an abundance of natural resources like gold, jade, amber and rubies, which have fuelled the decades-long conflict between the military and the Kachin Independence Army.
Mining is concentrated in Kachin Special Region 1, which is under the control of local warlord, Akhung Ting Ying. The region is rich in biodiversity and home to rare and endangered plants and animals. All of them are face extinction due to pollution and deforestation caused by the rapid expansion of mining activities.
