Myanmar’s military ‘stabilizes’ in thousands of jade trades: Report | World Trade News

Myanmar’s military has also boosted the country’s jade trade, using the companies to raise money for a February 1 coup that disrupted the country, a new report released Tuesday said, citing the son of a senior military officer, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who directly benefited from the business.

Global Witness noted that corruption in the jade sector in the country “reaches a peak in the military”, and seizure of government on February 1 had just expanded its connection to the multi-billion dollar industry whose business goes to China.

“Our exposure of the military to the multi-billion dollar trade is a sign of the deep end of Tatmadaw’s economic collapse in the country, which contributes to its persecution, conflict and support for the recent illegal seizure of power,” said Keel Dietz, Myanmar’s legal adviser to the governing body. , which exposes the link between human rights abuses and the environment.

The report warned that seizing power could turn the jade business into a “treasure trove” of arms and a political source to bolster military control, unless given sanctions and other sanctions.

With more than 400,000 powers, Myanmar’s military, also known as Tatmadaw, has been the dominant political force in the country since gaining independence in 1948. Except for a brief period of democratic rule, government officials have ruled the country for many years.

For years, the military has been accused of abusing its citizens, including in 2017 violence on Rohingya which forced hundreds of thousands of minority Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The United Nations and human rights groups have described the plot as a catalyst for war and civil strife.

Soon, it resumed isolation wars with terrorists since early 2020 relocating tens of thousands of people internally, before receiving power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government in February.

Since the start of the protests, it has sparked protests against opposition politicians and human rights activists as well as civilians protesting the seizure of power. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military has already killed 883 people, and arrested or judgment [can sentencing be done by forces?] more than 5,000.

The inclusion only exacerbates the illusion of violence and violence that indicates that the military is involved in the jade, the report said. It warned that the seizure could “advance the corruption of the armed forces” and bring the jade mining sector “beyond lawlessness”, as well as benefit military officers and their families.

Children of ambassadors

The 2021 Global Witness report continues with the first disclosure of 2015, when it first established a network of other senior executives in the field. Among the companies still operating in the jade trade is Kyaing International Gems, the son of General Than Shwe, a courageous man who ruled Myanmar for almost 20 years until 2011.

In a recent report, General Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, was also found to be involved in the business, Dietz, the study’s correspondent, told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview.

Dietz said Aung Pyae Sone was involved in the directing of foreign dynamite to Hpakant, in the heart of the Myanmar jade market.

The use of dynamite is important in the removal of jade, as modern mechanical operations include the explosion of large mines before the machine is sent to pick up debris.

“The Tatmadaw is directing highways to Hpakant, which is why dynamite traders must offer bribes to the North Superintendent for permission” to ship the explosive material, “said Dietz.

“The leader of the North is the one who pays the bribes to Aung Pyae Sone,” said the eldest son of the army. commercial business in Myanmar who was recently placed on US sanctions along with his sister, Khin Thiri Thet Mon.

Located in the Jade mining town of Hpakant, Kachin, they are marching against the Myanmar dictatorship tonight (Jun 14).

Photos: CJ pic.twitter.com/rv6bOdMxDc

– Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) June 14, 2021

Dietz said the participation of the Min Aung Hlaing family in the jade market should not surprise us “but it also speaks to how these profitable companies have also helped to strengthen the strength and power of the military and to provoke controversy across the country, as the NLD has tried to change these companies”.

“Min Aung Hlaing is the man who has led the worst crimes in the world in recent years, and now he has led the terrorists that have plunged Myanmar into a crisis that could bring the country into the worst days of war,” Dietz said.

Resistance to change

For years, military officials, as well as their corporations and business associates, have been ignoring licensing laws in the country, continuing to work against the recent Aung San Suu Kyi government to implement reforms.

In 2016, the NLD suspended new jade licenses, promising to change the sector that was at risk.

At that time, the Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) was licensed to own the largest jade mine. The company, which controlled 1,100 user licenses at the time, acquired 639 of them in the first few months of 2016 in the “millions of weapons” before the NLD entered power.

But even with the suspension of new licenses, systemic harassment ended, allowing the business to continue operating in accordance with “anonymous and uncertain” rules, the report said.

Instead of releasing the military, the law only gave Myanmar’s mines control of the mines even after five years of human rule.

And since the military is completely back, any possibility of a temporary change that is “now dead”, Global Witness said.

Among the companies recognized as part of the MEHL conglomerate are Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, Myanmar Imperial Jade Co Ltd, and Cancri (Gems and Jewelery) Co Ltd. Shortly after joining the military, the US ordered the three companies to join.

Covered in secret

Until recently, the involvement of the military in the jade mining industry was kept secret, Myanmar rights activist and poet Me Me Khant told Al Jazeera.

Since the Global Witness report in 2015, there has been a growing awareness of “jade sexual harassment,” he said.

“The cost of military service is high. Hundreds die each year as a result of landslides due to corruption, lawlessness, and illegal oppression, ”said Me Me Khant, citing an example. the 2020 global collapse that killed approximately 175 field operators in Hpakant.

There have also been other problems reported, including drug use and the spread of HIV / AIDS among miners, he added.

Disposal of trucks loaded with dirt from the Hpakant jade mine in Kachin state, November 26, 2015 [File: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

‘Selling weapons’

While the Myanmar military is in control of the jade industry, Global Witness research has found that more and more military groups are also involved in the trade.

Included are the Kachin Independence Organization / Army (KIO / A), United Wa State Party / Army (UWSP / A) – political parties and their armed wings – as well as the Arakan Army (AA), he said.

“Tatmadaw, the armed forces, and the armed forces such as the KIA, UWSA and AA have found a common ground to mine jade quickly and destructively, even as they fight elsewhere in the country,” Dietz said.

“Dangerous enemies have backed up an alliance with the Myanmar military to seize as much jade as they can before the licenses expire, sometimes holding a mine together illegally.”

Jade funds from Hpakant are being sent to trade in arms, and to intensify violent conflicts in northern Myanmar, the report found.

UWSA is known to be fulfilling part of the jade-related tax on KIA “by supplying manufactured weapons in its own factories”, and KIA later sold the weapons to AA, the report said.

The United Wa State Army, on record, is known to be fulfilling part of the jade-related tax on Kachin’s private sector by supplying manufactured weapons to its factories, with KIA then selling arms to the Arakan Army. [File: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

The AA also teamed up with KIA to raise funds for jade to support its anti-airstrike in Rakhine and Chin, the report said.

No tangible evidence has been found, however, indicating that Myanmar military is using jade funds to buy weapons directly, Dietz told Al Jazeera.

“But in the end all the money is possible.”

‘Not Permitted’

In a recent study, Global Witness estimates that up to 90% of Myanmar’s jade is smuggled out of the country, almost to China, “indicating that the market is highly unregulated.”

About 50 to 80% of jade was smuggled before the permit was issued, which occurs without entering Myanmar.

“As a result Kachin State’s economy has been devastated, with little benefit from Kachin’s people or the government, where jade money can be used to support basic needs such as health and education,” the report said.

As a citizen of Myanmar and fighting against the military authorities in the country, Me Me Khant is urging people around the world to impose sanctions on the military leader and the companies involved in jade and other mining industries.

He also urged other countries to pressure China to curb trade in jade with Myanmar.

“There has to be a big public awareness campaign on this issue to offend consumers, especially those in China,” he said.

But as long as the tyranny of the military exists, the potential to end the illegal trade in jade is unlikely, says Dietz of Global Witness.

“The most important thing for international organizations right now is to be able to address the government and contribute to the restoration of a democratic and legitimate government,” he said.

Global Witness is also urging foreign countries to immediately ban all imported jade and gemstones from Myanmar.

Over time, foreign powers will need to support the legitimate government in the future by eliminating the military and other armed forces from the jade industry, and putting the natural resources at the heart of the peace talks.

“There will be no peace or democracy as long as men with guns control the vast wealth that comes from Myanmar’s most valuable assets,” Dietz said.