Myanmar’s lawless mining blamed for dangerous pollution in Mekong River

Houayxay, Laos – Fishing went good contiguous for Khon, a Laotian fisherman, who lives successful a floating location built from integrative drums, scrap metallic and wood on the Mekong River.

“I caught 2 catfish,” the 52-year-old tells Al Jazeera proudly, lifting his drawback for inspection.

Khon’s elemental houseboat contains each helium needs to unrecorded connected this mighty river: A fewer metallic pots, a occurrence to navigator nutrient connected and to support lukewarm by astatine night, arsenic good arsenic immoderate nets and a fewer clothes.

What Khon does not ever person is fish.

“There are days erstwhile I drawback nothing. It’s frustrating,” helium said.

“The h2o levels alteration each the clip due to the fact that of the dams. And present they accidental the stream is polluted, too. Up determination successful Myanmar, they excavation successful the mountains. Mines, oregon thing similar that. And each that toxic worldly ends up here,” helium adds.

Khon lives successful Laos’s northwestern Bokeo state connected 1 of the astir scenic stretches of the Mekong River arsenic it meanders done the bosom of the Golden Triangle – the borderland shared by Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

This distant portion has agelong been infamous for cause accumulation and trafficking.

Now it is caught up successful the planetary scramble for golden and uncommon world minerals, important for the accumulation of caller technologies and utilized successful everything from smartphones to electrical cars.

A fisherman on the Mekong River successful Bokeo province, Laos [Al Jazeera/Fabio Polese]

Over the past year, rivers successful this region, specified arsenic the Ruak, Sai and Kok – each tributaries of the Mekong – person shown abnormal levels of arsenic, lead, nickel and manganese, according to Thailand’s Pollution Control Department.

Arsenic, successful particular, has exceeded World Health Organization information limits, prompting wellness warnings for riverside communities.

These tributaries provender straight into the Mekong and contamination has dispersed to parts of the river’s mainstream. The effects person been observed successful Laos, prompting the Mekong River Commission to state the concern “moderately serious”.

“Recent authoritative h2o prime investigating intelligibly indicates that the Mekong River connected the Thai-Lao borderline is contaminated with arsenic,” Pianporn Deetes, Southeast Asia campaigns manager for the advocacy radical International Rivers, told Al Jazeera.

“This is alarming and conscionable the archetypal section of the crisis, if the mining continues,” Pianporn said.

“Fishermen person precocious caught diseased, young catfish. This is simply a substance of determination nationalist health, and it needs urgent enactment from governments,” she added.

The root of the dense metals contamination is believed to beryllium upriver successful Myanmar’s Shan State, wherever dozens of unregulated mines person sprung up arsenic the hunt for uncommon world minerals intensifies globally.

Laotian fisherman Khon, 52, throws a nett from the slope of the Mekong River without catching thing [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

Zachary Abuza, a prof astatine the National War College successful Washington and an adept connected Southeast Asia, said astatine slightest a dozen, and perchance arsenic galore arsenic 20, mines focused connected golden and uncommon world extraction person been established successful confederate Shan State implicit the past twelvemonth alone.

Myanmar is present 4 years into a civilian warfare and lawlessness reigns successful the borderline area, which is held by 2 almighty taste equipped groups: the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

Myanmar’s subject authorities has “no existent control”, Abuza said, isolated from holding Tachileik town, the region’s main borderline crossing betwixt Thailand and Myanmar.

Neither the RCSS nor the UWSA are “fighting the junta”, helium said, explaining however some are engaged enriching themselves from the chaos successful the portion and the unreserved to unfastened mines.

“In this vacuum, mining has exploded – apt with Chinese traders involved. The subject successful Naypyidaw can’t contented permits oregon enforce biology rules, but they inactive instrumentality their stock of the profits,” Abuza said.

‘Alarming decline’

Pollution from mining is not the Mekong River’s lone ailment.

For years, the wellness of the stream has been degraded by a increasing concatenation of hydropower dams that person drastically altered its earthy bushed and ecology.

In the Mekong’s precocious reaches, wrong China, astir a twelve immense hydropower dams person been built, including the Xiaowan and Nuozhadu dams, which are said to beryllium susceptible of holding backmost a immense magnitude of the river’s flow.

Further downstream, Laos has staked its economical aboriginal connected hydropower.

According to the Mekong Dam Monitor, which is hosted by the Stimson Centre deliberation vessel successful Washington, DC, astatine slightest 75 dams are present operational connected the Mekong’s tributaries, and 2 successful Laos – Xayaburi and Don Sahong – are straight connected the mainstream river.

As a rule, hydropower is simply a cleaner alternate to coal.

But the unreserved to dam the Mekong is driving different benignant of biology crisis.

According to WWF and the Mekong River Commission, the Mekong River basin erstwhile supported astir 60 cardinal radical and provided up to 25 percent of the world’s freshwater food catch.

Today, 1 successful 5 food taxon successful the Mekong is astatine hazard of extinction, and the river’s sediment and nutrient flows person been severely reduced, arsenic documented successful a 2023–2024 Mekong Dam Monitor study and probe by International Rivers.

“The alarming diminution successful food populations successful the Mekong is an urgent wake-up telephone for enactment to prevention these bonzer – and extraordinarily important – species, which underpin not lone the region’s societies and economies but besides the wellness of the Mekong’s freshwater ecosystems,” the WWF’s Asia Pacific Regional Director Lan Mercado said astatine the motorboat of a 2024 study titled The Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes.

In Houayxay, the superior of Bokeo province, the markets appeared mostly absent of food during a caller visit.

At Kad Wang View, the town’s main market, the food stalls were astir deserted.

“Maybe this afternoon, oregon possibly tomorrow,” said Mali, a vendor successful her 60s. In beforehand of her, Mali had arranged her tiny banal of food successful a circle, possibly hoping to marque the show look fuller for imaginable customers.

At different market, Sydonemy, conscionable extracurricular Houayxay town, the communicative was the same. The food stalls were bare.

“Sometimes the food come, sometimes they don’t. We conscionable wait,” different vendor said.

“There utilized to beryllium elephantine food here,” recalled Vilasai, 53, who comes from a sportfishing household but present works arsenic a taxi driver.

“Now the stream gives america little. Even the h2o for irrigation – radical are frightened to usage it. No 1 knows if it’s inactive clean,” helium told Al Jazeera, referring to the contamination from Myanmar’s mines.

A food seller astatine Kad Wang View, the main marketplace successful Houayxay, wherever stalls were astir bare during a caller sojourn [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

‘The stream utilized to beryllium predictable’

Ian G Baird, prof of geography and Southeast Asian studies astatine the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said upstream dams – particularly those successful China – person had superior downstream effects successful bluish Thailand and Laos.

“The ecosystem and the lives that beryllium connected the stream evolved to accommodate to circumstantial hydrological conditions,” Baird told Al Jazeera.

“But since the dams were built, those conditions person changed dramatically. There are present accelerated h2o level fluctuations successful the adust season, which utilized to beryllium rare, and this has antagonistic impacts connected some the stream and the people,” helium said.

Another large effect is the reversal of the river’s earthy cycle.

“Now determination is much h2o successful the adust play and little during the rainy season. That reduces flooding and the beneficial ecological effects of the yearly flood pulse,” Baird explained.

“The dams clasp h2o during the rainy play and merchandise it successful the adust play to maximise vigor output and profits. But that besides kills seasonally flooded forests and disrupts the river’s ecological function,” helium said.

Bun Chan, 45, lives with his woman Nanna Kuhd, 40, connected a floating location adjacent Houayxay. He fishes portion his woman sells immoderate helium catches astatine the section market.

On a caller morning, helium formed his nett again and again – but for nothing.

“Looks similar I won’t drawback thing today,” Bun Chan told Al Jazeera arsenic helium pulled up his bare net.

“The different time I caught a few, but we didn’t merchantability them. We’re keeping them successful cages successful the water, truthful astatine slightest we person thing to devour if I don’t drawback more,” helium said.

Fisherman Hom Phan steers his vessel connected the Mekong River [Fabio Polese/Al Jazeera]

Hom Phan has been a fisherman connected the Mekong his full life.

He steers his woody vessel crossed the river, pursuing a way helium knows by instinct. In immoderate parts of the river, the existent is beardown capable present to resistance everything under, the 67-year-old says.

All astir him, the soundlessness is breached lone by the chug of his tiny outboard motor and the calls of distant birds.

“The stream utilized to beryllium predictable. Now we don’t cognize erstwhile it volition emergence oregon fall,” Hom Phan said.

“Fish can’t find their spawning grounds. They’re disappearing. And we mightiness too, if thing changes,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Evening approaches successful Houayxay, and Khon, the fisherman, rolls up his nets and prepares meal successful his floating home.

As helium waits for the occurrence to drawback to navigator a meal, helium softly contemplates the large stream helium lives on.

Despite the dams successful China, the contamination from mines successful neighbouring Myanmar, and the expanding trouble successful landing the drawback helium relies connected to survive, Khon was outwardly serene arsenic helium considered his adjacent time of fishing.

With his eyes fixed connected the waters that flowed profoundly beneath his home, helium said with a smile: “We effort again tomorrow.”