How Jade Funded the Coup
The exploitation of jade in Kachin state is a gross injustice, with the local population being utterly disenfranchised and receiving almost nothing for the wealth of natural resources being taken from their land. According to our recent podcast conversation with Mike Davis, CEO of Global Witness, this exploitation is helping to fuel the military coup and the oppressive actions of the junta, as they use the profits to build their war chest and further oppress the people of Myanmar.
This is a deeply disturbing development, as it shows that the military is not only committing human rights abuses, but also actively profiting from them! The fact that the son of the leader of the military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, is reportedly operating a monopoly on the provision of dynamite explosives for jade mining only adds to the outrage.
It is imperative that the international community takes action to address this issue and support the local population in Kachin state. It is time for the world to listen to his warnings and take decisive action to ensure that the people of Kachin state are not further marginalized and exploited.
“Some of the most dangerous people, the most hardline opponents of human rights and democracy in the country are sitting on this treasure trove.”
Host: Is the local community becoming enriched in any way by this [mining operations in Kachin State]? Are they receiving a dividend of some sort? Or are they completely just being put at risk and receiving nothing for the trouble?
Mike Davis: Most people in Kachin State would tell you that they get very little or nothing at all. And the way in which the jade business is structured does disenfranchise the local population almost entirely.
It’s not legal in fact, to trade jade within Kachin State. You're only allowed to trade it through certain designated markets, through emporiums in other parts of Myanmar like the main national emporium, and also a jade market in Mandalay for instance. So local people are essentially cut out and it's a major source of grievance.
Is it one of the top reasons why people are fighting for greater autonomy in Kachin State? Probably not one of the very top ones. But I think you could safely say it would be in the top ten. ‘We’re sitting on this huge natural inheritance, and we're not getting anything. And in fact, our worst antagonists and abusers are the ones who are profiting.’
To give you an example of something which we showcased in our report last year, in terms of how members of the military junta are continuing to profit and finding new ways, we presented evidence of how one of the sons of Min Aung Hlaing is operating a source of monopoly on the provision of dynamite explosives to jade mining in Hpakant, and doing that in cahoots with the northern commander, both making a huge amount of money through that!
That's alongside the established mechanisms in terms of military families running their own companies, or getting benefits through the formal military companies like Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, for example. So they're getting quite creative, and all the different ways that they squeeze money out of this industry, which of course, is partly for personal benefit.
But it also goes into the sort of virtual war chest which the Myanmar military had been accumulating over decades through looting the country's natural resources. This is one of the things we were warning about in our 2015 report! Look, if you allow the situation to continue, where some of the most dangerous people, the most hardline opponents of human rights and democracy in the country are sitting on this treasure trove, this isn't just about justice, and being greedy, this is a huge threat! Because if you want to stage a coup, shut down the country, wage war and its population, it costs money. This is a very big source of money, and you need to address it. And the NLD government did start trying to do that hugely difficult task. And frankly, I don't think they got sufficient support from their international allies and certainly not the Chinese authorities.