"Costs of copper: Residents near mines suffer under junta’s heavy hand", 9 January 2026

On October 17 last year, the military launched an offensive in several villages south of the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi Township. The offensive was aimed at cracking down on resistance groups.

…

A humanitarian aid worker told …, on condition of anonymity, that thousands of residents from 15 villages were forced to flee. However, a handful of men remained in their villages to take care of property – a decision some came to regret.

Two days after launching the attack, regime soldiers detained three men in Se Te, a village two kilometres south of the fence protecting Letpadaung. Se Te was set up for farmers evicted from their land in successive waves from 2011 to 2017 to make way for the mining site’s expansion…

The Done Taw massacre

This violent episode is far from unique in the area…, 30-year-old Ma Thi Thi was at her home in Done Taw village when she heard an explosion nearby, followed by a loud commotion…

Some victims had their hands tied, indicating they had been burnt alive. Thi Thi could only identify her husband’s body by a piece of his clothing.

… The killings came to be known as the Done Taw massacre, drawing widespread outrage on social media and condemnation from international human rights organisations.

But few media outlets linked the incident to the nearby Letpadaung, Sabetaung and Kyesintaung copper mines, which are run by China-based Wanbao Mining Ltd in collaboration with the military…

Foreign control

…, the mines have been managed by the Chinese Wanbao Mining Ltd and its subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd, in collaboration with the military-owned Union of Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd.

Land seizures around the mines by Wanbao – a subsidiary of state-owned defence firm China North Industries Group Corporation Ltd, or Norinco Group – sparked protests in 2012 that were violently suppressed and brought National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to the area to hear the farmers’ grievances. Those disputes remain unresolved, and human rights violations around the mines have increased, especially since the 2021 military coup…

…, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, sent a letter to Chen Defang, the head of the Wanbao company, raising concerns about human rights violations committed by troops in support of the Letpadaung mine.

“We are deeply concerned that Myanmar military officers involved in security actions connected to Wanbao’s operations may be actively committing human rights abuses,” the letter said.

It also accused Wanbao of “engaging in the intentional displacement of villagers from their homes and land in a context where rule of law has broken down, humanitarian relief is limited, and there is no due process or protection for villagers”…

Wanbao responded to Andrews’ letter by releasing a statement saying the company is “committed to contributing to peace and development” and has been “continually offering vitally needed financial and moral support to our surrounding communities and workers in these difficult and turbulent times”…

[...]

The copper mines are of great value to the junta. Myanmar’s exports of copper to China totalled $216 million in 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. 

“The money from this copper is used by the military to produce weapons and bullets, and they are killing our people with it,” Ko Paing said.

Not only is the mined copper of particular value to the junta, but it is also used in the production of weapons. The project’s parent company Norinco Group is owned by the Chinese military.

According to activist group Justice For Myanmar, Norinco sells weapons to the regime.

[...]

Ko Paing questioned how far Wanbao and Yang Tse would tolerate the killing of civilians by the junta. He called on the Chinese government to stop sharing profits with the military council for copper extraction and also called on the junta to stop assigning troops to secure the project, because of the abuse of civilians.

[...]

It has been more than four years since Thi Thi’s husband was murdered in the Done Taw massacre. She remains steadfast in her opposition to the mines. “I want the project to stop,” she said.

Daw Kyawt shared this sentiment. “As long as the mines are running, we’ll have to flee,” she said. “I just hope the mines can be seized quickly by the resistance – only then will we be safe and free.”