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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:06 pm
Time: 10:06 pm
Results for drug lords
1 results foundAuthor: Global Witness Title: Jade: Myanmar's Summary: Since 2011, Myanmar's rebranded government has told the world it is transitioning from a pariah state run by a ruthless military dictatorship to a civilian regime committed to wholesale political and economic reforms. In important respects, there has been real change. Oft-cited examples include the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and the government's peace talks with ethnic armed groups. But in other critical areas, the reformist narrative bears little scrutiny. Nowhere is this truer than in the jade sector. Drawing on over a year of investigations, this report shows for the first time how a multi-billion dollar trade in one of the planet's most precious gemstones is tightly controlled by the same military elites, US-sanctioned drug lords and crony companies that the government says it is consigning to the past. Companies owned by the family of former dictator Than Shwe and other notorious figures are creaming off vast profits from the country's most valuable natural resource, and the world's finest supply of a stone synonymous with glitz and glamour. Meanwhile, very few revenues reach the people of Kachin State, the site of the Hpakant jade mines, or the population of Myanmar as a whole. As the country approaches an historic election, the importance of these findings to Myanmar's future is hard to overstate. Our investigations show that the elites who between them have most to lose from an open and fair future also have ready access to a vast slush fund in the shape of the jade sector. This raises urgent questions for reformers and their international partners. What is happening to all this jade money? Is it only being spent on real estate, fast cars and lavish parties, or is it being used for political purposes as well? The sums involved in what one industry representative calls "the government's big state secret" are staggering. Until now the jade sector's worth has been almost impossible to determine. However, based on new research and analysis, Global Witness estimates that the value of official jade production in 2014 alone was well over the US$12 billion indicated by Chinese import data, and appears likely to have been as much as US$31 billion. To put it in perspective, this figure equates to 48% of Myanmar's official GDP and 46 times government expenditure on health. Clearly, if openly, fairly and sustainably managed, this industry could transform the fortunes of the Kachin population and help drive development across Myanmar. Instead, the people of Kachin State are seeing their livelihoods disappear and their landscape shattered by the intensifying scramble for their most prized asset. Conditions in jade mines are often fatally dangerous, while those who stand in the way of the guns and machines face land grabs, intimidation and violence. Details: London: Global Witness, 2015. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2016 at: https://www.globalwitness.org/en-gb/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/myanmarjade/ Year: 2015 Country: Burma URL: https://www.globalwitness.org/en-gb/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/myanmarjade/ Shelf Number: 138577 Keywords: Drug LordsNatural ResourcesPrecious Metals |