Sunday, March 30, 2008

Human rights, Environmental costs

My friend Scott forwarded me a campaigns letter from the World Development Movement about a UK-based company which is proposing to open a coal mine in Bangladesh. So what, you might ask? The rights and wishes of the community appear largely to be ignored - 40000 people will be displaced from their homes with limited compensation (most workers in the area do not own the land they work on). Building the mine will affect: livelihoods, quality of and access to fresh water, stability of food resources in the area. No one in the Community seems to really want this mine. The wishes of the people are being ignored with no opportunity for them to formally have their concerns addressed. This video is an interesting summary of the problems (I can't vouch for it's balanced reporting however).



IF you'd like to send a letter to CGM click here! Thanks

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