Local anti-regime strike organizations in Sagaing Region have called on Chinese mining firms Wanbao and Yang Tse to halt their collaboration with the Myanmar junta, which is committing atrocities and destroying civilian life and property across the region.
In partnership with the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, Wanbao and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd, run three copper mines – Letpadaung, Sabetaung and Kyesintaung – in Salingyi Township. Even before the 2021 coup, the mines had long been a source of public fury for destroying the environment and seizing people’s land.
A total of 17 local strike bodies in Monywa, Salingyi and Yinmarbin townships issued a statement on Monday saying that the mining companies are supporting the military in various ways. The companies give junta troops a base in their compounds, providing food and resources a s well as vehicles for the soldiers to raid villages in the township. Wanbao has also allowed the military to use its company compound as an artillery base that shells surrounding villages, the statement said.
With this support, junta soldiers are able to arbitrarily kill travelers on the Nyaung Pin Gyi-Salingyi road, plant landmines near lampposts and in residents’ farms, and burn their houses in nearby villages.
Furthermore, junta troops are forcing residents along the Pathein-Monywa road to leave their villages whenever the two companies transport cargo or Chinese workers.
Regime troops based in the mining companies’ compounds have been brutally killing local civilians and torching their houses since soon after the coup, according to the Yinmabin-Salingyi multi-village strike steering committee.
“Military training for the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia was held in these compounds. The worst is that fences are being built in places that could not be fenced before the coup,” Ko Lwan Thu, the head of the strike committee, told The Irrawaddy.
Recently, Myanmar Wanbao seized neighboring farmland and fenced-off farms in old Wethmay village to the east of the mining compound.
“They fenced an area around the Wanbao company and covered it with green plastic. Some residents are trapped in this area, but we still don’t know about their condition,” Ma Chaw Su Han, a representative of Monywa University Student Union, told The Irrawaddy.
The joint statement was issued by the student union, Lapataung Taung main strike column, North Yinmarbin strike force, Yinmabin-Salingyi multi-village strike steering committee and regional strikes forces.
The student union representative said the regional strike forces will send their plea over human rights violations by the mining companies to international embassies.
The statement said despite Wanbao frequently claiming via social media that it conducted development activities for locals, compensation for residents whose land had been confiscated for mining has not yet been paid and demands of displaced residents have not been addressed.
“All the posts on their Facebook pages are fake. They are supporting the terrorist military,” Ko Lwan Thu said.
