Publications
This volume is comprised of writings from three classes of EarthRights Mekong School graduates. EarthRights International´s Mekong School is a training program for civil society advocates from the Mekong Region (Yunnan/China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) whose work focuses on human rights and the environment.
The authors whose work is featured in this volume represent a wide range of communities along the Mekong, from its origins on the Tibetan plateau to the Mekong Delta, where the river completes its 4,350 km journey and flows into the South China Sea. Mekong School alumni speak a cumulative total of twenty-three regional languages (Brao, Burmese...
This collection of reports is the result of the hard work and dedication of fourteen young men and women from diverse ethnic groups and regions in Burma who attended EarthRights International's year-long leadership school for human rights and environmental advocacy, the EarthRights School of Burma (ERSB). While conducting research the students took great risks, often placing themselves in danger, to reveal the truth about Burma and the perspectives of the people directly affected by human rights abuses and environmental destruction.
This publication is a collection of research reports by the students of the EarthRights School of Burma class of 2009. The report documents the findings of their fieldwork research projects undertaken inside and adjacent to Burma. The research reports on 'earth rights' abuses, and focuses on three topics: Land Confiscation, Economic Development, and Human Development.
Covering diverse topics such as infrastructure developments, mining, and people trafficking, the reports uniformly show that the military regime governing Burma respects neither human rights nor the environment,...
In 2004, the Pa-o Youth Organization began hearing concerns from fellow community members about the commencement of an iron ore mining operation and factories at Mount Pinpet, and iconic landmark for the Pa-O just ten kilometers south of the Shan State capital Taunggyi. Over the next few years, villagers became increasingly alarmed about the influx of workers from central Burma, the arrival of Russian personnel together with top military generals, and rumors of uranium depositions in the mountain. Public information about the projects, like many in military-ruled Burma, was extremely limited, however. The organization therefore undertook a three-year investigation into the parameters of...
In December 2005, Burma´s Senior General Than Shwe ordered the start of a nation-wide- campaign to plant the toxic bush-like tree, Jatropha curcas, for biodiesel production. The country was to plant eight million acres, or an area the size of Belgium, within three years. Two years on, this report documents how Burma´s people have endured forced labor, confiscation of farmlands, loss of income and threats to food security under the program. At the same time, testimonies of crop failure and mismanagement from all of Burma´s states expose the campaign as a fiasco.
Dammed by Burma´s Generals, chronicles the impacts of the Lawpita hydropower project since the early 1960s. Promised abundant electricity and irrigation, the local population instead suffered from forced displacement, water shortages, increased militarization, human rights abuses, and thousands of landmines planted to secure the project. Most of the power was sent directly to Rangoon; still today 80% of the Karenni are without electricity.
The report outlines the potential impacts of the first dam on Burma´s Irrawaddy River, including the displacement of 10,000 people, livelihood destruction, and threats to the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. A timeline and profiles of the companies involved in the project are included as well as a description of the six other dams planned for the N´Mai and Mali rivers.
Khoe Kay: Biodiversity in Peril recounts the history, methods and results of more than 3 months of surveys on this bend in the Salween in Karen State, Burma. The researches found 194 plant species and 200 animals, including 42 endangered species, indicating that the area still holds significant biodiversity, but is subject to outside threats. The main threats facing the Salween basin are from proposed dams, and Khoe Kay is located at the Wei Gyi dam site. The report follows the work of the World Commission on Dams to predict several serious impacts, including fisheries, forests, greenhouse gas emissions, and cumulative impacts from a cascade of dams.
As Thailand proceeds with plans to join Burma´s military regime in building a series of dams on the Salween River to gain "cheap" electricity, this report reveals the atrocities being inflicted on the people of Northern Karen State to pave the way for two of the planned dams. The Upper Salween (Wei Gyi) Dam and Lower Salween (Dar Gwin) Dam are planned to be built on the river where it forms the border between Thailand´s Mae Hong Son province and Burma´s Karen State. Together they will produce about 5,300 MW of electricity. It is estimated that the reservoir for the Upper Dam will stretch for 380 kilometers inside Karen and Karenni States of Burma.
The Salween is Southeast Asia's longest free flowing river and one of Burma's most important waterways. For the half a million people living where the river meets the Andaman Sea, the Salween is a way of life interlinked with its seasonal flows and daily tides. However, Burmas military dictatorship, together with Thai and Chinese investors, is moving ahead with plans to dam the Salween. The communities living downstream have not been informed or consulted about the dam plans or their potential impacts, even though their lives stand to be permanently altered.