Ten villagers from Arakan State’s Maday Island have been charged with allegedly organizing an unauthorized protest against a pipeline project passing through the region, according to Narinja, an exile media group covering the state. More than 400 demonstrators marched to the local office of China National Petroleum Corporation on April 18, protesting what they claimed was the company’s failure to adequately compensate residents for land expropriated for the Shwe gas pipeline project. They also accused CNPC of environmental degradation. Multiple attempts to secure a permit for the protest were rejected by local authorities in the lead up to Thursday’s rally.
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