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 […]

Escalation of Civil War in Burma Necessitates Immediate Halt to Salween Dam Plans

Following recent heavy fighting in northern Shan State, all the planned Salween dam sites in Burma now lie directly in active conflict zones. The Salween Watch Coalition is therefore demanding an immediate halt to all plans […]

Chinese and Korean Gas and Oil Projects Linked to Land Confiscations, Violations of Indigenous Rights, Torture, and Corruption in Burma (Myanmar)

Leading multinational companies from China, South Korea, and India have begun construction of massive oil and gas pipelines across Burma that are connected to widespread land confiscation, violations of indigenous rights, cases of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture, and forced labor, according to a new publication released today by EarthRights International (ERI). ERI is calling on the oil companies involved in the pipelines to immediately postpone their operations, and for the Burmese authorities to enact a moratorium on development in the oil, gas, mining, and hydropower sectors until preconditions for responsible investment are in place and the people of Burma can meaningfully participate in development decisions […]

Stop Damming Burma’s Rivers

Burma Rivers Network is calling on foreign investors to immediately stop plans to build large dams on Burma’s major rivers and their tributaries, as these dams will have huge social and environmental impacts across the country, and fuel Burma’s decades-long civil war […]

Junta Launches Covert Dam Offensive in Karenni State

Engineers are secretly surveying for dams planned by China hydropower giant Datang on the Salween and its tributaries in Karenni State under the armed guard of Burma’s junta, according to local researchers.

The Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG) launched today a campaign publication exposing how three planned dams proceeding in secret will block waterways across the state, tightening the junta’s control and causing further widespread disruption to the war-torn population […]

KNU Update on Impacts Resulting from Hatgyi Dam Construction

On August 4th, 2009 we, the KNU, issued a statement concerning the Hatgyi dam construction project. In the statement, we called upon the countries investing in construction of the dam to withdraw their investment as the construction of the dam would cause massive damage to the environment and bring on widespread human rights violations against local populations in the form of burning down of villages, looting of property, crop destruction, killing of livestock, extortion of money, torture and killing of suspects, rape of women, forced relocation and forced labor by troops of the SPDC military dictatorship […]