Ivanhoe Received US $103 Million from Burma’s Copper Mines

Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines has announced early today in its press release that it received US$103 million from Burma asset it held through Monywa Trust.

Ivanhoe owned a 50% operating interest in a joint venture with Burma’s state-owned company and transferred its asset to a third party Monywa Trust in 2007 […]

KESAN Report Endangered Elephant Need Protection

Today, the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) announces the results of their report, Endangered Elephants in Megatha Forest, Karen State, Burma. KESAN researchers found evidence that Megatha Forest is home to 15-18 elephants in 2-3 small groups of 3-7 individuals […]

Burmese Regime Neglecting Environmental Protection

New Report Highlights Need for Sound Environment and Development Policy Framework in Post-Election Burma

A new report highlights how Burma lacks any meaningful frameworks on environmental protection and sustainable development that would enable citizens to take part in decision-making about their country’s development, despite a recent transition to a military-dominated parliamentary political system […]

Local Communities Launch Campaign against Thai Coal Mine and Power Plant in Eastern Shan State

Impacted communities today launched a campaign to oppose plans by Thai investors to develop a coal mine and power plant in conflict-ridden eastern Shan State […]

China’s Assessment Calls for Burma’s Myitsone Dam to be Scrapped

China Power Investment Corporation is forging ahead with its controversial Myitsone dam in northern Burma despite its own assessment calling for the project to be cancelled […]

Energy-hungry China winces as civil war unfolds in Burma

Heavy fighting over the past week close to Burma’s northern border will concern Beijing, who told visiting Burmese President Thein Sein last month that stability along the volatile frontier must be made a priority of the new government. Hundreds of millions of dollars in overland trade passes through several official crossings along the border each year; millions more is smuggled by timber merchants, drug mules and human trafficking rackets. The value of maintaining the unimpeded flow of trade is crucial to both Burma and China’s developing southern Yunnan province […]

Hydropower Dams Fuelling Conflict in Burma

Recent fighting near the Dapein and Shweli hydropower dams in northern Burma shows how the buildup of Burma Army troops to secure deeply unpopular Chinese dam projects is fuelling conflict.

Fighting broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) last week at the Dapein No. 1 and 2 dams, which are being constructed by China’s state-owned Datang Company […]

The Collapse of Tea Market, Plunges Tea Farmers into Crisis

Ta’ang (Palaung) Working Group has revealed and released a briefing paper on the huge economic crisis that Ta’ang people are facing in 2011 due to the decline of tea prices and the collapse of the tea market […]

Chevron Withers Under Criticism from Communities Suffering Human Rights and Environmental Harms

Yesterday at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting, 22 indigenous, First Nation, and other impacted community members and supporters who had traveled to the company’s headquarters from locations around the globe and across the state confronted CEO John Watson with the brutal human and environmental abuses caused by the oil giants operations […]

Open Letter to China on Mali Nmai Confluence Dam Project

I, hereby present to your most honorable Chairman of Republic of China our humble request. I am serving as the Chairman of Kachin Independence Organization. On behalf of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Kachin Ethnic people inhabiting in the Union of Myanmar, I submit this open letter to you […]