"Myanmar Church speaks out against rare earth mining" 9 March 2023

Church leaders in Myanmar are up in arms against unregulated mining for rare earth elements — widely used in the production of high-tech devices like smartphones, computers, electric vehicles and solar cells — in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation's Kachin state.

Mining for rare earth has increased sharply in northern mineral-rich Kachin state, bordering China’s Yunnan province, following the toppling of Myanmar's civilian government by the military on Feb.1, 2021. 

“We are concerned about the effects of environmental degradation, the livelihoods of local communities and the wellbeing of animals due to the extraction of rare earth,” said Church leaders from Banmaw diocese in Kachin state, where unregulated rare earth mining is in full swing by Chinese firms and others.

In a letter, signed by Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam and four other diocesan leaders, including the vicar general and the chancellor, on March 4, they said rare earth minerals are a gift from God so “we have the responsibility to protect them.”

The appeal came after the local community protested against rare earth mining in N’ Bar Par and surrounding villages in Mansi township under Banmaw diocese.

The protesters called on Chinese companies and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization(KIO), which has been fighting for self-determination and autonomy for decades, to halt the mining, citing impacts on the environment, wildlife and local communities. [...]