Sagaing authorities to bring posthumous charges against goldminers killed by landslide

The aftermath of the landslide in Homalin. Photo: Uru Region Namtaw Youth Group
The aftermath of the landslide in Homalin. Photo: Uru Region Namtaw Youth Group

Three gold scavengers were killed by a landslide in Homalin Township, Sagaing Region, on Friday. Nonetheless, local authorities have said they will take legal action against them for illegal mining.

The landslide struck when the miners were searching for gold on land licensed to the Shwe Uru Aung Mining Company, Eleven reported today. The miners lived in the same township, where there are few jobs other than those related to the mining industry. Mining companies and local authorities have struggled for years to curb illegal scavenging and often refrain from intervening for fear of attacks by groups of scavengers.

However, after these three miners were killed by the landslide, local authorities announced that they would bring posthumous charges against the miners for violating Myanmar’s 2015 Mining Law. The penalty for trespassing is K500,000 and a prison term of up to six months. It is not clear how the case will proceed without the defendants.

Landslides are a common occurrence in the mining areas of Homalin Township. Eleven people have been killed in the area so far this year.

A resident told Eleven: “The gold is valuable, and the residents have no other jobs to do. Most of the places have already been scoured. So [scavengers] have to dig at the old spots. The soil in those places was dug once before and is not solid yet. When the slag heaps fall, people die.”

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