Matters India Reporter

Yangon, 4th July 2020 — A jade mine disaster in northern Myanmar killing some 200 and injuring another 100 poor migrant workers has made Myanmar’s cardinal mourn the human tragedy.

In a letter addressed to Bishop Francis Daw Tang of Myitkyina and the faithful of his diocese, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo expressed heartfelt condolences to the families of victims of jade mine tragedy

The disaster – the worst in memory to strike Myanmar’s notoriously dangerous jade mines – occurred on Thursday, 2 July 2020, when a hillside collapsed in heavy monsoon rains in Hpakant, in Kachin state near the border with China.

The miners, many of them migrant workers were scouring the land for the precious stone.

In a letter dated 4th July, the Cardinal who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences wrote, “Our hearts are shattered by the horrific news about the death of some two hundred of our young men in the jade mine tragedy. I express our heartfelt condolences to the families, to the diocese and to all affected by this heart wrenching disaster.”

Cardinal Bo asserted, “Those who died were not only buried under a landslide of the mountain but by the landslide of injustice.”

The prelate recalled Pope Francis who raised his voice against “the never ending tsunami of economic and environmental injustice against the poor all over the world. Those who perished were sacrificed on the altar of greed, by utter negligence and arrogance of companies that continue to dehumanize the poor of this land.”

While offering prayers for the victims and their families the cardinal said, “In these tragic times of COVID lockdown there cannot be a lockdown of the fire of hunger which forced those poor to seek the crumbs of jade that fall from mega companies’ bulldozers.”

“This mine tragedy,” the cardinal underlined, “is a grim reminder of the need for sharing God given natural treasures of Myanmar which belong to the people of Myanmar.”

While commending the prompt response of authorities to this tragedy, the cardinal archbishop of Yangon said, “We earnestly urge the government and other stakeholders to ensure that such tragedies do not repeat.”

“This is not the first time of this merciless tragedy and if the relevant stakeholders do not respond with compassion and justice, this will not be the last time of this inhuman tragedy,” the cardinal warned.

He concluded the condolence letter saying, “Let the tragedy strengthen our resolve to bring economic and ecological justice to our country men and women.”

Hpakant, a remote area 960 km (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, is the centre of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry. Billions of dollars of jade is believed to be scoured each year from bare hillsides by poor migrant workers.

The impoverished ethnic minority communities come looking for scraps left behind by the bulldozers of the big firms.

Low-quality stones can be exchanged for food or sold for $20 to waiting brokers.

“Many of them (the dead) are Rakhine,” Phon Graing, a Hpakant township official told AFP, referring to the ethnic group who live hundreds of kilometres away at the other end of the country, and who are among Myanmar’s poorest communities.

Police say victims had apparently defied a warning not to work the mines during the monsoon, which loosens the bare hillsides.

Meanwhile, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday expressed sadness over the tragedy, blaming it on joblessness.

However, critics place the blame for such accidents on the legal mining operators and the government’s lax enforcement of safety measures.

Environmental watchdog Global Witness called the landslide “a damning indictment of the government’s failure to curb reckless and irresponsible mining practices”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed deep sadness at the deaths and sent condolences to families of the victims and Myanmar’s government and people.

Guterres expressed “the readiness of the United Nations to contribute to ongoing efforts to address the needs of the affected population”, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

July 2 accident was the worst in years. Over 110 people were killed in a 2015 collapse which strengthened calls to regulate the industry. Another 50 died in 2019