Mining in Burma, Do We Need these Jewels for the Price?

If the US. Campaign for Burma had Not spoken out and urgeed actions to help stop violence against that country's Muslim minority I would have been angry.  But they did.  And now the mining practices described below remind me of the old system in S. Africa, (which I Pray is changing) and actions still taken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There Is something to do about it.

Sounds Like Mining Was in S. Africa and still Is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

They are Beautiful, but do we Truly need these things to be Happy?

Tell Congress: No Burmese Blood Rubies

Last week, we wrote to you about the ongoing suffering of the Kachin people. Now

the Kachin need your help to make sure Congress doesn’t lift the ban on importing

Burmese rubies and jade.

Tell your Representative to cosponsor the renewal of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act.

Rubies and jade are mined in northeastern Burma where the Burmese military continues

to wage war against the Kachin ethnic group. Control of the mines and labor exploitation

fuel the war against the Kachin, to whom the rubies are known as blood rubies – not

because they are the color of blood, but because of the blood spilt in mining them.

The Burmese government uses child labor and forced labor in the ruby and jade mines,

which are highly lucrative moneymakers for the Burmese government and its business

cronies.

We visited Kachin leaders, human rights organizations, relief workers, and internally

displaced persons earlier this year. They expressed their frustration at how ignored,

betrayed, and abandoned they feel by the international community. They want the United

States to keep some sanctions in place to pressure the Burmese military to stop attacking

them, to stop abusing them, to stop exploiting their natural resources, including

the rubies and jade mined on their land, and to guarantee their rights, and let them

return home in safety.

The gem ban in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act is one of the last pieces of

leverage the U.S. has to push the Burmese military to meet the Kachin concerns and

pursue rights-respecting reforms. If Congress does not renew the gem ban, the ban

is automatically gone.

Please take a minute to send an email to your Representative to renew the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act before it expires.

Don’t let the Burmese government profit off the sale of these rubies and jade in

the U.S.

Email your Representative today

 and let him or her know that the gem provision is essential for keeping pressure

on the Burmese government if we want to see the end of human rights abuses.

Help us not fail the Kachin when they need us most.

Have time to send more than an email?  Email myradah@uscampaignforburma.org for instructions

for calling your Representative.



In solidarity,



USCB team

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