BANGKOK (AP), The military overthrow in Myanmar has given the junta complete control of Myanmar's conflict-ridden jade mining industry, giving it profits and leverage to consolidate power, researchers reported Tuesday.According to Global Witness, an independent research group, fighting over the mines at Hpakant in remote Kachin state is also contributing to instability in the border area.Since years, ethnic guerrilla and army forces have been fighting in Kachin. They had been cooperating to share in the profits of mining the richest jade deposits in the world, which made the industry a hotbed of corruption and not a national asset that could have been invested for the common good.Global Witness estimates that annual losses amount to tens of billions of dollars.Experts agree that the February 1 coup disrupted the ceasefire around the mines. Fighting broke out even in the jade-producing zones.It's an extremely unstable environment where the rule of laws is just about broken down," Keel Dastz, one the report's authors, said to The Associated Press.After taking power in 2016, the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi halted progress in cleaning up this industry. It stopped issuing and renewing jade mining permits. The new law limits licenses to three years. This increases the incentive to mine illegally as fast as possible.Dietz stated that the Tatmadaw military now controls who can mine and who cannot. They can also give licenses to purchase loyalty and attempt to split rival groups.Global Witness and other groups have called for tougher sanctions against the junta in order to stop the free-for-all rush for precious stones to be retrieved.The report states that it is up to the international community, to limit the funding that the military can receive by selling Myanmar's natural resources. This includes preventing their import and blocking financial transactions that would pay for them.Continue the storyGlobal Witness previously reported on the dominance of drug lords, military elites, and crony businesses in the industry. According to those who are familiar with the area, the situation has not changed much.This has given rise to both sides to seek maximum production at great cost to the environment. A quarter of a million people move to the region to work in mines or pick through mine tailings looking for valuable jade. Many people have been killed by landslides at the open-pit mines' unstable slopes.The owners of the mines and trade routes make a lot of money from the industry.Jade is the most profitable sector for military personnel, other than petroleum. They have also made a lot of money from other mining, such as copper. Edith Mirante from Project Maje, which studies environmental issues in Myanmar, stated that rare earths are less important, but not insignificant.The United States government and the United Kingdom have placed sanctions on Myanmar Gems Enterprise. They also placed sanctions on key military-controlled businesses, military leaders, and their families, as well as other companies controlled or linked to the army.However, sanctions on the gemstone industry are unlikely to have any significant impact because most jade, as well as a large portion of precious stones and pearls from Myanmar, go to China. This is often through illegal channels.Many of the operations in mining are carried out by Chinese companies that have allied themselves with Myanmar partners. Over the years, the military has often made huge profits from mining, while the Kachin have made arrangements to tax smuggling routes to China, which is the destination of most jade mined here.Antagonisms are growing now that protestors in Kachin have protested against the coup, according to David Dapice, an Ash Center expert on Southeast Asia at Harvard University.He said that a lot of the fighting revolves around who gets what, with no one willing to trust one another. The military is in no mood to compromise and has already circled the wagons.In the past, fighting spilled across the border and injured or killed Chinese civilians.Lawlessness is a more serious problem that is longer-term. It is a breakdown of the rule of law that could lead to other illegal activities like narcotics production or animal trafficking. This is something Dietz stated.Instability breeds instability, and that is something I believe the Chinese government must understand. He said that this is a disaster right at their border.____You can access the report at https://www.globalwitness.org/myanmar–jade/
