This time, and many tragedies in the past, for Myanmar, it is not just because of poverty, nor just because of jade; It's not "all the fault of one country," and it's not because "they deserve it." Behind an unfortunate event are often complex and intertwined long-term issues.
Starting in July 2022, the rainy season in Myanmar is as fast as ever. Death too.
In the town of Hpakant in Myanmar's Kachin State, one of the world's largest jade mining sites, mass deaths occurred on July 2: at least 172 people were confirmed to have died and 50 injured the day after the incident, and it is still unknown how many missing miners were buried in mud or submerged in water, never to be seen again with their families.
Soon after the incident, TV and online media in various countries relayed live videos: the original emerald blue lake water was clearly visible in the film, which was instantly covered by the surrounding soil and turned into earthy yellow mud; However, in a few seconds, the miners who were still at the bottom of the basin did not have time to escape, and one by one they were covered by the earth and rock flow; At the same time, the water continued to flood upward, and the equipment and clothing that had just been salvaged and the rescued personnel were soon taken away by the water.
Five days after the incident, the government announced that it had decided to stop the search and rescue operation due to consideration of the risks of the search and rescue - the hundreds of miners who are still "missing" are probably not bad.
Who caused the "Blood Jade Mine"?
Due to the cruel scene at the scene, coupled with the many controversies that broke out in the North Maine jade industry chain (including mining disasters, geopolitical struggles, armed forces involved, etc.), many media or commentators directly called it the "blood jade" mine, or directly pointed out that "a buyer from a certain country" was the culprit behind these tragedies. These allegations may indeed reflect part of the truth on the ground, but they are by no means "the whole truth":
Jadeite is a type of jade, and Myanmar's local jadeite "Burmese jade" is more famous worldwide. "Jade" has a good relationship with the culture of a certain country, from the side radical of the text covers the jade character, and the protagonists in the famous book are named Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, etc. Northern Myanmar is rich in jadeite and other jadeite and borders a country, which has led to business opportunities for more than a century.
A merchant selling jade in Yangon.
As for the mine where the incident occurred, it is reported that it has been mining since the British colonial period, and decades of excavation have dug this place from a mountain to a basin; At the beginning of the rainy season, it turns into a huge "pond".
Later, the Myanmar government took over, from the original "mining together" to the need to bid and bid for mining rights, and now three major companies operate mining operations locally; In addition to the change of the main control method, the form of mining is also due to the progress of industrial technology; In addition, the consortium has changed to a consortium with sufficient funds, and around 2000 it has gradually been converted to machine excavation.
The increase in efficiency has led to an increase in the number of mining areas in Myanmar. However, since the quality of jadeite is still the best here, the sight that can be seen here is dozens of bulldozers and excavators, mining up and down the mining area about 20 stories deep.
But when the rainy season comes, as in June 2020, when the Myanmar government ordered companies in the region to stop mining from July 1 until September 30, legal mining companies will leave with their people – replaced or left with small companies or local retail investors in the "gray zone" and the people who come here to make a living.
In other words, the Myanmar government and "legal" jade miners were not "directly" responsible, as stated in their subsequent statement. But conversely, are they really "irresponsible"? If so, where is the responsibility?
Under the complex military, political and conflict of interests of all parties, it is always the local people who are sacrificed
This is by no means the first fatal "accident" in the North Burma mines: there are dozens of fatalities in jade mines in Kachin State every year, large and small.
Why are the risks so costly and so many people willing to take risks during the rainy season? There are too many political, economic, social and even diplomatic reasons behind this.
For example, those familiar with Myanmar's recent history should know that Kachin State has long been a place of conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army. In recent years, due to the increasing control of the Myanmar government in the region, it has also taken control of major mining areas - but because of the intricacies of local power, it is difficult to generalize the situation of on-site management, and there is a difference between the so-called "officially recognized miners" and the so-called "gray-area miners".
Therefore, for many locals, it is only when the rainy season comes, when "legal" mining companies leave with "foreign" personnel and machinery – at which point the mining area becomes "everyone's" again. Coupled with the rain washing the soil and rock, it can greatly reduce the strength of mining with manual hoes for those who do not have the capital to buy machinery.
To put it simply, the government's management of empty windows provides "opportunities", and the rainy season provides "strength" to wash soil and rock - which causes the phenomenon of "risking death for money" that local residents and "jade diggers" from all walks of life must experience every year.
Residents of North Myanmar Hill Road.
Is "poverty" the main cause, or do the victims "deserve it"?
Compared with "it's all the fault of a certain country", another comment with great popularity on the Internet is that the victim "deserves to break the law", or "the sorrow of the poor country in Myanmar", causing many people at the bottom to risk their lives in order to get rid of poverty.
But again, the causes behind a thing should not be so simply attributed:
Indeed, economic factors are one of the most obvious motivations for local miners: the Myanmar government's current basic salary, which is 4,800 kyats per day; The monthly salary is at most about 150,000 kyats. This time, the government compensated the affected households for compensation, and the deceased family received 500,000 kyats, equivalent to a minimum salary of three months.
But there are too many stories that tell them that as long as they dig up "a piece of jade", they can earn several times more than this "price of their own life": the survivors of this mining disaster revealed to the media that they had picked up a piece of jade worth $2,200, and although they needed to "hand over" $600 to the Kachin Independence Army, they still had at least $1,600.
No wonder that at the cost of their lives, such "jade hunting" work still makes people flock to it.
But this does not mean that Myanmar is a "poor country": in fact, Myanmar is rich in natural assets compared to many countries; In the Buddhist temple, believers decorate Buddha statues and temples with gold leaf, and the famous Shwedagon Pagoda is even more beautiful...
In other words, it is the "Burmese" who take risks because of poverty, but this is not entirely because they "deserve it"; Nor is it "because the whole of Myanmar is poor that these tragedies have occurred". To be more precise, the problem of "poverty" is a common problem in all countries, although it is not to a different extent, and it is a common construction of society.
The so-called "poor country" is only one of the phenomena or ways in which this government flaw is pointed out in the harshest and sharpest way:
The real biggest problem facing Myanmar is not "poverty", but whether it can truly implement reforms in the allocation of resources, social system, urban and rural development, and even basic education, political reform, etc., so that the fruits of the country's rapid economic development can be more equitably enjoyed by the people?
Therefore, this and many past tragedies have occurred not only because of poverty or jade for the people of Burma.
Moreover, has the government and society provided enough support for the country of Myanmar, as Aung San Suu Kyi herself said: "Provide more jobs so that these people can find a way out for their own survival more safely."
Text/Medon Medon