We Used to Fear Bullets Now We Fear Bulldozers. Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar

By Dawei Development Association, Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks and Tarkapaw Youth Group • October 30, 2015

This report was researched and written collaboratively by Dawei Civil Society Organizations and documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project in Dawei District of Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region. Based on desk research, interviews with villagers, and direct engagement with companies and government, it exposes how the project was pushed ahead despite clear opposition from the local community. It documents the serious harm that has already been done to villagers’ health, livelihoods, security, and way of life, and the devastating contamination of local rivers and streams. It calls for the suspension of Mayfl ower Mining Company’s permit and operations at Ban Chaung until this harm is remedied and the project is eff ectively evaluated, monitored, and regulated in compliance with Myanmar law and international best practice. It advocates that local villagers should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their own path to development.