Mine Your Own Business

By: Lara Sewers

As the World Economic Forum takes place this week in Davos, Switzerland, international advocacy organizations keep a close watch on the process with the knowledge that it provides multinational corporations an unparalleled opportunity to influence decision-makers around the world. Organizations like Friends of the Earth International have reasons for the distrust. They complain that the Forum is composed by the world’s elites and richest businesses negotiating behind close doors. No participation is given to advocacy groups representing people that are constantly living with the consequences of corporate and economic policies everywhere in the world.

Multinational corporations from developed countries have already tapped the resources found in the developed world and their attention is now turning to resource-rich countries in the developing world. While one would expect their entrance to bring economic prosperity to these countries, poverty is still pervasive and in addition poor communities now have to deal with health and environmental issues.

As Oxfam notes, countries rich in natural resources often are the ones that suffer from higher rates of corruption, social unrest, and human rights violations. The poorest communities are the ones left to deal with the harmful consequences of extractive industries in their countries while being excluded from the enjoyment of the economic benefits derived from the exploitation of their lands. The issue is not new; many have been struggling with corporate giants for over thirty years. Yet, little effort is made by the government in these countries to hold corporations accountable for their actions. Officials routinely accept bribes in exchange for permits, protection, and immunity while the story continues.

In countries such as Ghana, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Colombia, New Guinea, Philippines, among many others, community lands used for farming are seized by companies. Even though by law, in many of these countries corporations must pay the owners the fair price of the land plus lost profits from agricultural activities, it seldom happens. The community, of which many members are illiterate and ignorant of their legal rights, are tricked into signing agreements that buys them off for a small fraction of the value of their land. Others are promised payments that take years to come. These displaced communities end up losing their land which often is their only source of income and must now settle for the idea of being employed by the corporation that will never hire them.

These communities not only lose their home and income but are then left to wrestle with the environmental problems created by the extracting activities. In Ghana, rivers, which are often the community’s only source of water, have been polluted with cyanide; a chemical used in gold mining. People have developed skin and other health problems as a direct consequence of the pollution of the land and water.

Therefore, it is no surprise that conflict has ensued in many of these communities. In Sansu,Ghana, a mining company has forbidden the use of roads that lead to other villages and farms. After the displacement and imposition of restrictions in the use of agricultural lands, scarcity in this community fueled conflict between the residents and the mining company security. In Sansu and many other places the conflict has escalated into beatings and even deaths. Corporations all over the world employ violent tactics to intimidate and silence poor communities and government officials do little to protect its citizens’ human rights and in many instances, their life.

NGOs have stepped in to protect some of these communities despite constant death threats and intimidation. The Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) and the Center for Public Interest Law has undertaken projects to educated communities in West Africa about their legal rights. These people now feel empowered to demand the companies’ respect and negotiate at arms length with knowledge of the rights they are entitled to. Some progress has been made in these communities. However, it is regrettable that the world’s most vulnerable are left to rely on NGOs for protection while their governments stay in bed with the multinationals.

NGOs should not be responsible for enforcing and protecting the rights of a nation’s citizens. Politicians in resource-rich countries must recognize that enforcing fair policies and regulating these corporations benefit all, not just poor displaced communities. While these corporations make billions of dollars annually, 95% of the revenue is channeled out of the country. Rich countries keep getting richer by owning poor countries’ valuable resources. Those in power do nothing, international financial institutions keep funding projects that do nothing to alleviate poverty and promote human rights, and the extracting industry chuckles while the poor just get poorer.

For more information and news updates:

Friends of the Earth International, Tambogrande Victory, (2003).
Friends of the Earth International, Peru: Turning Water Into Copper, Briefing current as of 2008.
Friends of the Earth International, Davos Elites Must Listen to Citizens’ Demands, Jan. 24, 2008.
National Catholic Reporter, Catholics line up against mining operations in Peru, Jan. 25, 2008.
Oxfam America, Caught on the Wrong Side of a Gold Boom, Jan. 23, 2008.
Oxfam America, A Voice for Communities Affected by Mining, March 29, 2006.
Oxfam America, Oxfam America’s oil, gas, and mining program, Project description 2007.
Oxfam America, Environmental Activists Receive Death Threats, Jan. 3^rd, 2008.
Oxfam America, Rio Blanco: History of a Mismatch in Peru, Sept. 14, 2007.
Center for Public Interest Law
Wassa Association for Communities Affected by Mining
Upside Down World