Mining and Women in Asia: Experiences of Women Protecting Their Communities and Human Rights Against Corporate Mining
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Mining and Women in Asia: Experiences of women protecting their communities and human rights against corporate mining Asia Pacifi c Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Mining and Women in Asia: Experiences of women protecting their communities and human rights against corporate mining Copyright © 2009 Asia Pacifi c Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised and encouraged, provided the source is fully acknowledged. ISBN: 978-611-90030-1-9 Asia Pacifi c Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) APWLD is an independent, non-government, non-profi t, regional women’s human rights network of 150 members in 23 countries of the Asia-Pacifi c region committed to enabling women to use law as an instrument of social change, equality and development. APWLD Editorial Team: Vernie Yocogan-Diano, Innabuyog, Tomoko Kashiwazaki, Mae-anne Llanza and Haresh Advani With contributions from members of the Women and Environment Task Force and former APWLD secretariat staff: Almah Tararia, Judy A. Pasimio and Valentina Soe Design layout: Darawan Printing Ltd., Part. Printed by: Darawan Printing Ltd., Part. Published by the Asia Pacifi c Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Girl Guides Association Compound 189/3 Changklan Road Amphoe Muang Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand Tel: (66) 53 284527, 284856 Fax: (66) 53 280847 Email: [email protected] Websites: www.apwld.org / www.dontglobalisehunger.net This publication is supported by Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Contents FOREWORD 1 INTRODUCTION 2 PART I FACT-FINDING MISSION REPORTS THAILAND Negative Impacts of Phutapfa Gold Mine, Loei Province, and People Sector’s Opposition Watcharapon Wattanakum, Loei Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, and Loei Civil Society Suntaree Saeng-ging, NGO Coordinating Committee on Development (NGO-COD), and Northeastern Women’s Network 10 MONGOLIA Report of APWLD Fact-Finding Mission in Mongolia Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) 23 Gender and Mining: An Assessment of the Impact of Gold Mining on Women in Mongolia Alisha Bjerregaard, intern at CHRD 35 PART II PRESENTATIONS AT THE ASIA STUDY SESSION ON WOMEN AND MINING Current Trends in World Mining Frances Quimpo, Executive Director of the Centre for Environmental Concerns (CEC) - Philippines 72 Contents MINING IN ASIAN COUNTRIES: CASE STUDIES BANGLADESH Phulbari Coal Mining Project Report from the presentation by Khushi Kabir, Nijera Kori and Earth Touch No. 10, April 2007 88 CAMBODIA Mining Situation in Cambodia Panha Sok, Banteay Srei 90 KOREA Pollutions Caused by Cement Factories in Korea Kim Young Ran, Korea Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) 95 MONGOLIA Mining and Food Sovereignty in Mongolia Batkhishig Badarch, Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) 101 THE PHILIPPINES Indigenous Women and Mining Emi B. Carreon, Innabuyog, regional alliance of indigenous women’s organisations in the Cordillera Region, Philippines 104 The Case of SOCCSKSARGEN Region, Mindanao Lorna Mora, BAI, National Network of Indigenous Women’s Organisations in the Philippines 110 Resisting Development Aggression: Mining and Militarisation in Mindanao, Philippines Norma Capuyan, Kalumaran (Strength of the Indigenous People of Mindanao), and BAI, National Network of Indigenous Women’s Organisations in the Philippines 112 Contents Legislative Actions on the Mining Issue in the Philippines Luzviminda Ilagan, Gabriela Women’s Party House of Representatives, Philippines 115 THAILAND Thungkham Gold Mine at Phuthapfa, Tambon Khaoluang, Wangsaphung District, Loei Province Watcharapon Wattanakum, Loei Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, and Loei Civil Society 124 PART III STRATEGIES OF ACTION 130 PART IV ANNEXES MEDIA ARTICLES 138 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AT THE ASIA STUDY SESSION ON WOMEN AND MINING 144 Foreword For an indigenous woman who depends on land for survival, she cannot be immune from the issue of large corporate mining. A peasant woman cannot be mum about the mining operation even if her community is mountains or valleys away, as her produce is poisoned by an irrigation system contaminated by mine waste. A woman working as an overseas migrant worker may not have a homeland to return to when mining operations take over her community. A woman in a fi shing community where mine tailings are drained does not only lose fi sh on her table but she also gets affl icted with diseases and children are born with abnormalities. A woman from the city who has not even seen a real mining operation but who is concerned of the wide-range impact of mining and the patrimony of her country where corporate greed over-runs the interest of the majority of her compatriots. A woman belonging to a country which owns huge mining corporations operating worldwide mostly in the third word, shares solidarity with women and their communities affected by her country’s mining operations. At the end of the plunder are huge pits, a degraded environment, an ever hungry community, an irreversible damage. There remains no example of a successful post- mining rehabilitation, at least in Asia. Agriculture still contributes higher income to national economies as compared to mining. This book is a product of the Food Over Gold campaign of the Women and Environment Task Force (WEN TF) of the Asia Pacifi c Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) launched in 2005 as part of APWLD’s programme on Women’s Food Sovereignty. The contents are results of mining fact-fi nding missions, fora- discussions on women and mining and an Asia study session on women and mining conducted by WEN TF. The book may not have covered extensively the mining situation in the Asia-Pacifi c region and we acknowledge that as a limitation. On the other hand, I believe that the presentation papers encompass the mining situation in the region in terms of peoples’ resistance, common experiences, impact and enforcement of national mining laws within the framework of liberalising the mining industry. The WEN TF of APWLD with membership from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Korea, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand, dedicates this book to the women who are peasants, indigenous, herders, fi shers to whom the Task Force members had valuable discussions with and partnerships on the issue of women, mining and food sovereignty. We also share this book with other women of Asia-Pacifi c and the world who are in similar struggles. We hope that this book will be an added inspiration and a resource to complement positive actions of women elsewhere in saving communities and the environment from the ravages of large corporate mining. This is our contribution to upholding women’s rights to land, natural and food resources and livelihood which are the essence of food sovereignty. This is our contribution in fi ghting neo-liberal globalisation. This is a proof of women’s solidarity. Vernie Yocogan-Diano Convenor, Women and Environment Task Force, APWLD Chairperson, Innabuyog, regional alliance of indigenous women’s organisations in the Cordillera Region, Philippines 1 IntroductionMining and Women in Asia Gold does not usually glitter for women whose livelihoods are greatly affected by large- scale corporate mining. This statement is reverberated by indigenous women, peasant women, herders, fi sherfolk and other communities whose sources of food and livelihood are threatened and destroyed by mining operations. These operations have fl attened mountains, destroyed forests, polluted and even poisoned the land and water resources. There is no doubt that large-scale corporate mining is also contributing to the global warming indirectly affecting the lives of rural and indigenous women as well as directly exacerbating the deteriorating situation due to the impact of climate change rural and indigenous women have been struggling with. With this explicit, devastating impact of mining on the environment in the Asia-Pacifi c region, members of the Women and Environment (WEN) Task Force (TF) are more challenged to identify negative impacts of mining on the people, particularly rural and indigenous women in the communities which transnational mining companies have invaded, and raise the concerns that women and their community members speak about. Despite this bleak picture, most governments all over the world, and specifi cally in the countries where members of the WEN TF come from, are aggressively promoting the mining industry and supporting the interest of transnational mining companies over people’s rights to resources and the environment. This is within the framework of liberalising the mining industry which the World Bank (WB) pushed in the early 1990s. Most Asian governments acceded thus enacting mining liberalisation laws and enabling national mineral policies to benefi t mining corporations by granting them wide incentives. This is also a quicker way for the governments to increase gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign currency to meet the conditionality attached to the WB’s lending. It has been pursued by heavily sacrifi cing people’s land rights and access to natural and food resources on which rural women, their families and communities rely for their survival. With the entry of transnational mining companies in the developing countries, food sources have been depleted. Various experiences of rural communities have proven that large-scale mining operations, particularly gold mining, have caused irreversible damage to the environment