"The mine, the dead fish, the villagers and their protests", 27 May 2022

Protests, road blocks, hostage taking and the firing of guns and tear gas canisters have reverberated through the Anosy region of southern Madagascar since March this year. The conflict follows a fishing ban that left villagers without food security and livelihoods.

The restrictions were put in place after hundreds of dead fish were found floating the local lake - shortly after a mine tailings dam failure and controlled release of a million cubic metres of mine basin water from the Rio Tinto QMM ilmenite mine following heavy storms. The company denies its mine waters caused the fish deaths.

These events came to a head last week, on 19 May 2022, when the military was sent in with guns and tear gas to disperse the protestors who had blocked the road to the QMM mine site at Mandena...

People were hurt on both sides. The protestors took more than thirty hostages, but immediately released those who were injured. The next day four government ministers travelled from the capital, Antananarivo, to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages and advance a settlement with QMM.

The delegation concluded months of conflict, which began with sit ins at the town hall in March, when it became clear the fishing ban would not be lifted.

The government failed to return reliable laboratory results from testing, and the promised food ‘aid’ was not sufficient for the local community to survive the ongoing lack of resolution.

The President of Madagascar visited the region and weighed into the dispute in April, sending a public message via his Minister of Water that “QMM are responsible for all this”.

QMM continues to deny the fish deaths are related to the mine. But the company did need to secure ‘exceptional permission’ to release its excess mine basin water, which is not compliant with Malagasy regulations due to unauthorised levels of cadmium and aluminium...