Violation of environmental and human rights

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Sub-title: Beijing has leveraged its Belt and Road Initiative to gain the upper hand on the Mekong River while the US and Japan’s competing initiatives wash away
Description: "When the state tabloid China Daily ran a paid advertisement in the New York Times extolling the virtues of Beijing’s proliferating dams in Laos, the piece sparked a new cold war controversy. Entitled “Employment on hydroelectric project in Laos delivers better lives”, the piece stated that a proposed cascade of dams on the Nam Ou River will enable well-paid local workers to buy pickup trucks and provide the poor country with badly needed electricity. The paid placement also noted the Nam Ou cascade “is a key part of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative and is the first project undertaken by a Chinese-invested company to cover an entire river.” With its rising regional clout and massive state resources, China has recently gained a clear upper hand vis-à-vis the United States and Japan in determining the crucial waterway’s future development and direction. It’s an economics-over-environment vision that downstream nations have often opposed but without recourse or resources to fight back there is little they can do as US and Japan-backed counter-initiatives for the river wash away into irrelevance..."
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Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2019-06-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: A starry frost will come dropping on the pools and I?ll be astray on unsheltered heights - - Seamus Heaney, "Sweeney Astray"..... Contents: Introduction... Mining... Logging... Biodiversity... Forest Products... Agriculture... Ecotourism Roads... Energy... Water Supplies and Recycling... Watershed... Climate Change... Background reading with links to articles.
Source/publisher: Project Maje
2017-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Shrimp farming has led to serious conflict over land rights and access to natural resources. Resulting social problems include increased poverty, landlessness, and reduced food security. In Ecuador, a single hectare of mangrove forest has been shown to provide food and livelihood for ten families, while a prawn farm of 110 hectares employs just six people during preparation and a further five during harvest. Globally, tens of thousands of rural poor in developing countries have been displaced following the impact of shrimp farming on traditional livelihoods. For instance, 20 thousand fisher-folk in Sri Lanka?s Puttalam District migrated following declines of fish catches following the advent of shrimp farming. Wealth generated by exporting farmed shrimp rarely trickles down to the communities affected by the industry. Corruption, poor governance and greed have resulted in powerful individuals making vast sums of money from shrimp farming with little regard for the basic human rights of the poor communities living in shrimp farming areas. "It is another example of resource-use conflict in which the poor and vulnerable are suppressed by a powerful elite intent on making quick profits, whilst turning a blind eye to the abuses that result" said Dr Mike Shanahan of EJF..." Examples from Burma
Source/publisher: Environmental Justice Foundation
2003-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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