Global witness welcomes groundbreaking unauthorized report calling for international sanctions against myanmar military businesses. Myanmar jade mining drives rights abuses, disasters and war. Dangerous myanmar jade mines bring income, death voice. Jadeite from myanmar formerly burma is no longer banned in the united states as of 2016. Statoil told global witness that this is expected to start.
Jul 28, 2016 myanmars new government has announced a major shake up to licensing of its multibillion dollar jade and gems business, following work by global witness, kachin development networking group kdng, the natural resource governance institute nrgi and other kachin state and myanmar civil society actors and parliamentarians to expose widespread abuses at the heart of a vast, deeply corrupt trade. This photo taken on october 4, 2015 shows freelance miners digging for raw jade stones in piles of waste rubble dumped by mechanical diggers, next to a jade mine in hpakant, myanmar s kachin state. Global witness wrote to both companies to request an explanation. In february 2014, global witness sent information requests to companies that were awarded onshore oil and gas blocks in myanmar in october 20 asking for the names of the individuals who are at the top of their ownership chains, and details of any owners with highlevel political connections. New jade mine disaster claims at least in myanmar. Myanmars big state secret, shows that the elites who have most to lose from an open and fair future. In myanmar maneuvers, a detailed report published by the united nations university centre for policy researchs crimeconflict nexus series in april 2017, vanda felbabbrown assesses. Oct 22, 2015 global witness has released a report into the jade business in myanmar that, for the first time, reveals the scale of the industry and details how it is controlled by the military elites. Sep 15, 2016 jade from burmas rapacious mines was long banned by washington.
The ngo, global witness, has used corporate data to investigate corruption in myanmars jade industry see box and moneylaundering associated with panamanian companies and the trump ocean club. Myanmar s many tariffs include a 20 percent valuebased tax on jade at mine sites and 10 percent on sales at government jade sales, but global witness estimates the. Oct 23, 2015 myanmars military elite and drug lords run. At least killed in myanmar jade mine landslide al. This figure equates to up to 48 per cent of myanmars. Jade a global witness investigation into myanmars big. Global witness reported that there were links between some of these figures and multinational. Myanmar s big state secret the sums involved in what one industry representative calls the governments big state secret are staggering.
As myanmar gears up for national peace talks, our new film reveals how the jade riches of kachin state are helping to incentivise and fuel deadly armed conflict. Blood jade is a 2016 singaporean documentary television film, directed and produced by ali fowle, a broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker based in yangon, myanmar, for channel newsasia. Fearing that the new civilian government will assert authority over jade mining, the military initiated violence in mining townships. Ethnic armed conflict and territorial administration in myanmar, the asia foundation. Myanmar jade mining drives rights abuses, disasters and. Meanwhile, the industry is responsible for environmental damage, corruption, conflict and social problems.
Jade market mandalay 2020 all you need to know before you. Myanmar urged to follow shakeup of jade industry with more action on transparency. Data stories explore the impact of the jade industry in myanmar through data visualizations, analyses, and interviews. News myanmar elites profit from corrupt jade industry, study claims. How open company data was used to uncover the powerful elite benefiting from myanmar s multibillion dollar jade industry. For more on global witness, please visit our website.
Myanmar government announces groundbreaking reforms of jade. Probably the most genuine myanmar jade market to buy the rough jadeite jade for this is in mandalay. We would also like to thank global witness for generously sharing their data and feedback. Myanmar s big state secret 2015 and transparency and. Myanmar peace talks must address natural resource management. Addressing tax evasion in myanmar s jade and gemstone industry introduction myanmar s mineral wealth is slipping through its citizens fingers. Myanmars old guard runs a jade reuters news agency. Myanmar s eiti process should prioritise the disclosure of company ownership, and establish this. The 128page report by the londonbased group puts the value of myanmar s jade. May 15, 2017 as myanmar gears up for landmark national peace talks this new global witness film reveals how the countrys massive jade business is helping to drive deadly armed conflict.
Jan 09, 2014 the bubble in the jade market has now reportedly occurred due to fears over a shortage of myanmar jade or the possible introduction of measures by myanmars reformist government that would limit jade exports and force jadeprocessing to take place in country. Governance and innovation estimating jade sales were worth usd 7. Jade from burmas rapacious mines was long banned by. Response to burma act passage in us house of representatives. Real owners of myanmars oil and gas blocks come forward 2 recommendations all oil, gas and mining companies operating in myanmar should publish details of the individuals who ultimately own and control them. Andrew tan, asia world, aung san suu kyi, global witness senior analyst juman kubb, myanmar imperial jade, myanmar ruby enterprise, peter kucik, sdn list, steven law, us sanction. Myanmar eiti released its first reconciliation report, covering fiscal year fy 1 see generally, global witness jade. October 2006 8the government of the union of myanmar, ministry of forestry, planning and statistics department, fax to global witness. Myitkyina, burma the jade tycoon of burma lives behind stone walls and a sophisticated security system. This figure equates to up to 48 per cent of myanmar s official gdp. This figure equates to up to 48 per cent of myanmars official gdp. Global witness condemns sentencing of two myanmar journalists. White paper how open company data was used to uncover.
Official figures estimated the total sales of jade and gemstones at around usd 3. Global witness issues report on myanmars big state. Its the men who haggle at the markets, but myanmar s jade industry is run predominantly by women, and they are optimistic about its future despite the moratorium on jade mining every morning at 9am, the intersection of 86th and 40th streets in mandalay is awakened by the clanging of jade. Myanmar must end attacks on media after release of reuters journalists. How open company data was used to uncover the powerful. Myanmars big state secret this report would not have been possible without the many organisations and individuals who have contributed their time, knowledge and expertise. See a joint statement signed by over 5 civil society members. Myanmar elites profit from corrupt jade industry, study. Myanmar jade rush muddies promise of change, fuels conflict. Global witness issues report on myanmars big state secret. A visitor must be buzzed through a gate into the garden, pass a hunk of jade as big as a compact refrigerator, enter through a sliding screen and glide by the preserved tusks of the family elephant before sitting. Myanmars jade industry tightly controlled by elites. The global witness report then incorporates more sales data from another local jade fair that was organized in 2014, and applies the harvardproximity 20 percentage split again to this expanded dataset to arrive at what global witness considered to be the most accurate estimate for the value of the jade sector, which was usd 31 billion.
Global witness has released a report into the jade business in myanmar that, for the first time, reveals the scale of the industry and details how it is controlled by the military elites. This was achieved through the expertise of opencorporates in converting the web pages on the myanmar company register into structured data, and global witness s. Statoil stated that no signature bonus was reported in 2015, as the contract requires it to be paid only if statoil enters the next exploration phase, when it would have to commit to drilling exploration wells. Oct 23, 2015 as the country approaches a general election on 8 november, the report, jade. Datasets let researchers and advanced data users dig into clean, machinereadable data that is ready to use. The case for human rights due diligence global witness comments for tripartite meeting on responsible sourcing of precious stones 26 may 2014 introduction responsible sourcing by companies buying diamonds and coloured stones is a critical element in tackling human rights violations associated with the extraction and trade of precious stones. Myanmar is suspending operations at more than 2,000 jade mines in the resourcerich hpakant region of northern myanmars kachin state until environmental impact studies have been completed, a. Jade from kachin, myanmar is often sold in jewelry shops in china, like this one in yin jiang. It sets out the epic scale of the countrys jade trade, the corrupt elites who control it, and what needs to be done by the myanmar government and its international partners to fix it. Today, were pleased to release a white paper on how opencorporates data was used to uncover the powerful elite benefiting from myanmar s multibillion dollar jade industry, in a groundbreaking report from global witness. Introduction natural resource governance institute. Land and right abuses in the jade industry in myanmar. That is equivalent to nearly half the gdp for the whole of myanmar, but hardly any of the money is reaching ordinary. That is equivalent to nearly half the gdp for the whole of myanmar, but hardly any of the money is.
As myanmar gears up for landmark national peace talks this new global witness film reveals how the countrys massive jade business is helping to. Jade a global witness investigation into myanmars big state. Nov 01, 2016 its the men who haggle at the markets, but myanmars jade industry is run predominantly by women, and they are optimistic about its future despite the moratorium on jade mining every morning at 9am, the intersection of 86th and 40th streets in mandalay is awakened by the clanging of jade bangles. Jade and the generals trailer global witness youtube. This figure equates to up to 48 per cent of myanmar s official gdp the jade business is also a significant driver of myanmar s most intractable armed conflict, which pits the central government against the kachin independence army. The case for human rights due diligence global witness. Until now the jade sectors worth has been almost impossible to determine. Please support their calls and help ensure the peace talks urgently focus on the role natural resources and jade plays in incentivising and fuelling conflict, by exposing the links between jade and the generals.
Advocacy group global witness said the value of jade produced in 2014 alone was. The authors uncover this dynamic in myanmar, a country transitioning from four decades of military rule. Key witness missing in illegal jade ownership case the. Myanmar jade mining drives rights abuses, disasters, war. Never before seen footage and interviews reveal the fear and destruction wrought by the powerful elites who came to control the multibillion dollar mines during the days of military dictatorship. Insight chinese jade miners in overdrive ahead of new.
Myanmar s big state secret the biggest natural resources heist in modern history. According to a report released by global witness in 2015 4, the industry is controlled by old junta military elite, ussanctioned drug lords and crony companies while very few revenues reach the people of kachin state. The dark shadow of myanmars jade trade financial times. Oct 16, 2016 miners in burma have found one of the worlds most valuable pieces of jade. We replicate the method used by global witness to estimate the total value of jade produced in 2014, proceeding step by step in order to understand what the data tells us and what is unclear. Is jadeite from myanmar burma banned from the united states. This was the finding of a yearlong investigation entitled jade. Myanmar jade a myanmar jade stone becomes a beautiful piece of jewelry or decorative art in the hand of a skillful artist. Eight bodies recovered after landslide at defunct myanmar. We argue that the tatmadaws leadership, which has welldocumented ties to jade production and. The military, its crony tycoons and china, where most of it ends up, benefit the most.
There is two extra years worth of additional data, as well as more detailed information made available by the myanmar gems enterprise mge. However, based on new research and analysis, global witness estimates that the value of. A new jade mine disaster in northern myanmar has claimed the lives of at least people who are thought to have been scavenging for the valuable mineral in the unstable waste cast off from mining. The country accounts for more than 90 percent of global jade supply, and is a leading source for highquality rubies, sapphires and other varieties of colored gemstone. The jade trade accounts for 48% of myanmars official gdp. The 128page report by the londonbased group puts the value of myanmars jade. At least jade mine workers and security guards in northern myanmar were killed in a landslide. Data tools make large datasets accessible with explorable dashboards and interactive visualizations.
At least killed and many still buried after second mining incident in a month in kachin state. Explore the ancient cities of amarapura, sagaing, mingun, and innwa on a fullday, private tour thats tailored to you. This figure equates to up to 48 per cent of myanmar s. Myanmar government halts operations at kachin state jade mines. An anticorruption group has found ties between wealthy families and the countrys lucrative jade trade. Jades journey marked by drugs and death as china grows, so does its appetite for jade. From 2008 to 2016, the tom lantos block burmese jade juntas antidemocratic efforts act prohibited u. The decision of a myanmar court to sentence two reuters journalists to seven years in prison for violating the official secrets act represents a predetermined outcome to a sham trial, that is having a chilling impact on civil society and press freedom in the country.
With a personal driver to whisk you between sites in a climatecontrolled vehicle, youll cover even more historic places, pagodas, and temples. But the gemstones journey from myanmars mines to chinas consumers follows a trail of. Nov 21, 2015 report of hpakantjade mine landslide in myanmar 21112015 123 pm. Using geocoded data on conflict and jade mines, the authors find evidence for this strategic use of violence. We want a better world where corruption is challenged. Oct 24, 2015 jade a global witness investigation into myanmars big state secret 1. The ban did not apply to gems imported for personal use or.
1382 601 106 1334 365 1485 788 255 370 341 480 1224 1506 734 745 1470 1376 1106 1378 102 333 1175 1109 415 496 243 705 1188 49 1283 195 26 864 1367