Environmental Ramifications of Forced Displacement Pertaining to Burmese Refugees | Published in Critical Debates in Humanities, Science and Global Justice (2024)

Introduction

Myanmar, which borders China, India, Bangladesh, Laos, and Thailand and fertile land, is a country that has attracted a great number of immigrants in the past. The climate in Myanmar is relatively tropical due to its geography in Southeast Asia, with rainy and humid summers in contrast to dryer and milder winters (Burma, 2024). As a result of these climatic and soil conditions, the country is rich in petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower, arable land (Burma, 2024), which are often exploited by the government for economic advancement.

The country has a total land area of 676,578 square kilometers (Burma, 2024), which is inhabited by around 58 million people. The majority (68%) are Burman/Bamar who speak Burmese and control both the political and military spheres (Burma, 2024).

Along with immigration from many countries, Myanmar is now known for its out-migration as well. The once populated mountainous and deeply forested border areas where 135 different ethnic minorities resided (Chaturvedi, 2012) are now a bare vestigial of what once was a flourishing and harmonious ecological and cultural system. This is the result of decades of racial ethnic discrimination from the Buddhist Bamars, taking the form of the inability to access education and work opportunities and all forms of repression including racial profiling and blacklisting for education and marriage (Chaturvedi, 2012). Since 2012, a series of events have led to a surge in persecutions, torture, and genocide of Burmese ethnic minorities to the point at which the term “ethnic cleansing” is now commonly associated with Myanmar or Burma (Barany, 2019).

The most marginalized recognized ethnic group (Simpson, 2014), the Rohingya, is a Sunni Muslim ethnic group concentrated in Rakhine state in the northwest, which accounts for 4% of the total Burmese population (Burma, 2024). As of 2023, fewer than 600,000 Rohingya people reside in Myanmar (Human Rights Watch, 2023), and it was noted during the 49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council that “Interviewees and interlocutors unanimously stated that, so long as the Tatmadaw enjoyed impunity and exerted influence on civil and political life in Myanmar, a further deterioration in the situation of human rights of the Rohingya could be expected” (OHCHR, 2022).

Originating from Bangladesh and immigrating to Myanmar in the 19th century under the influence and encouragement of British colonial authorities, the sparse number of Rohingyas still living in Myanmar find shelter in rural areas in Rakhine state (Barany, 2019). Discrimination against this minority group has been ever-present, especially by the Myanmar Buddhists due to conflicting religious beliefs (Barany, 2019).

Since the 1962 military coup led by Gen Ne Win, a totalitarian, socialist-leaning government intensified anti-Rohingya campaigns, escalating discrimination (Chaturvedi, 2012). By 2019, 68% of the Bamar population and 87.9% of Buddhists strongly supported anti-Rohingya policies (Barany, 2019), while Rohingya were systematically excluded from political decision-making by the Bamar elites. Gen Ne Win revoked their citizenship rights in 1982, designating them as illegal migrants (Chaturvedi, 2012), fueling long-suppressed grievances poised to erupt.

The Tatmadaw, criticized for numerous human rights violations and condemned by the UN Human Rights Council for their blatant disregard for human life, maintains complete societal control by isolating Myanmar from the outside world. Additionally, the government controls the economy, forming economic ties with neighboring countries like China and India to exploit natural resources. By 2012, over half of Myanmar’s land area was occupied by natives (Chaturvedi, 2012), but their displacement now exposes the land to further exploitation, risking the destruction of once-thriving ecosystems nurtured by generations of native care and understanding.

On the 25th of August, 2017, the ARSA launched an attack on more than 24 Rakhine state security posts. Twelve uniformed personnel were killed and weapons were stolen (Barany, 2019). The response by the Tatmadaw was ruthless. They launched and initiated genocide, torture, sexual assault of females, and demolishment of properties. This was believed to be premeditated, using the ARSA’s attack as a convenient justification. Within four months, more than 688,000 Rohingya were forced to flee back to Bangladesh and 392 villages were partially or totally destroyed with an estimated death toll of 10,000 (Barany, 2019).

The Tatmadaw, who have been the subject of many human rights violations, garnering the recognition that they “have shown a flagrant disregard for human life” by the UN Human Rights Council, has maintained complete control over the society through alienating and isolating the country from the outside world. Moreover, the government is also central in directing the nation’s economy, forging economic relations with neighboring countries like China and India by exploiting the nation’s natural resources. More than half of the total Burmese land area was occupied by the natives as of 2012 (Chaturvedi, 2012). Their displacement has left the land at risk of further exploitation and annihilation of ecosystems that were once thriving under the native’s understanding and care accumulated through centuries.

This paper seeks to investigate several environmental ramifications of forced displacement pertaining to Burmese refugees in Thailand by conducting a literature review of existing peer-reviewed sources. As natives are displaced, the environment has been exposed to control and free reign from the government as opposed to ecological native framing methods resulting in increased exploitation in the forms of the different industries. Specifically, this paper will explore the industries of mining, petroleum extraction, industrial agriculture, infrastructure expansion, and timber extraction and the many environmental ramifications they bring to the land. I utilize an interdisciplinary approach and include experts from various fields including peace and conflict studies and sociology in order to provide a holistic approach combining history, sociology with environmental science. The aim of this paper is to increase awareness towards ameliorating the dire environmental impact of ecosystem destruction and improving the deforestation situation.

Methods

I selected research for inclusion in the literature review according to the following criteria: Publication date after 1962, which marked the beginning of the authoritarian government leading to heightened discrimination; documents in the English language; and professional publication types such as research reports and journal articles sourced from Jstor and google scholar. Keywords used in the research process include: Myanmar, ethnic cleansing, environment, Burma, refugees, nature, natural resources, indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).

Figure 2 depicts how sources for this literature review were selected for inclusion.

Resource Exploitation in Myanmar

Natural resource extraction is the mainstay of Myanmar’s economy and critical to rural natives’ lives, with their livelihoods consisting of Taungya (shifting cultivation), agro-forestry and local timber usage (Woods, 2019). Past distribution of land was arbitrary and based on luck: depending on one’s ethnicity and the proximity of their relation with the Myanmar military (Simpson, 2014).

However, with the displacement of the natives, the government has seized control. In fact, the fight over natural resources has been proven to be a consistent cause of conflict due to large concentrations of valuable material situated where the indigenous minority groups reside (Simpson, 2014). As Hossain notes, natural resources are one of the important factors behind this genocide activity by the government of Myanmar (Hossain, 2019). The increased governmental control has led to growing illicit exploitation of natural resources, usually because of the massive scale, which are supplied to armed actors and “crony companies,” or national companies linked to the Tatmadaw (Jones 2014) due to the implementation of laws requiring exploitation to be conducted through joint ventures with the government (Levesque, 2008). Furthermore, exportation of these goods also mainly profits the military generals, as the country requires the military government’s approval for any foreign investment (Levesque, 2008).

I explore the environmental consequences of ecosystem destruction; deforestation; soil erosion and pollution; water, air, and sound pollution; CO2 release and resulting impacts, and oxygen depletion by first explaining the industry, then detailing its resulting environmental impacts to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship.

The industries will be discussed in an ordered list based on their importance, determined by the number of environmental impacts they introduce to Myanmar. This is summarized by figure 3 in the discussion, conclusion and further recommendations section.

Mining

Mining is one of Myanmar’s most prominent industries. Various types of stones and minerals are mined for, including: jade, ruby, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble and limestone. This paper will focus on the extraction of two of these specific minerals – jade and ruby – because they are the most well-known worldwide. Myanmar jade, mostly produced in the hilly township of Hpakant located in Kachin state, is well-known internationally and highly priced by Chinese merchants (Sai Luu, 2022). The total earnings of jade extraction and sale, which started in 1964, has been estimated at around US$750 million (Levesque, 2008). Nevertheless, none of these profit the locals, as Hpakant resident Ko Naw Aung says:

““Our area produces jade, but local people don’t benefit from jade mining,” said Hpakant resident Ko Naw Aung.” (Sai Luu, 2022). The ruby extraction industry is also facing a similar situation. Although more than 90% of the world’s rubies are from Myanmar, it is gradually losing its abundant resources (HRW 2007; Chicago Council on International Affairs 2012). Because of the many generations of unregulated mining, the regions’ supply of gem-quality rubies produced has dropped significantly (Lankarani, 2021) to the point where if one wishes to find quality rubies now, a depth of over 600 meters would have to be mined, making it too challenging to be profitable, says Vincent Pardieu, a world-renowned field gemologist (Lankarani, 2021).

Mining presents a multitude of environmental ramifications. Firstly, it directly disrupts soil ecosystems, destroying the thriving habitat full of tiny creatures, insects, and countless microbes that are involved in decomposition. It also causes erosion, which negatively impacts soil fertility and health, minimizing the possibility of land restoration in the future. Another consequence is the release of carbon dioxide into the environment, contributing to global warming. Almost 80% of the world’s soil carbon is stored in the top meter of soil (United Nations, 2023). Destroying the top layer of soil releases this back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, resulting in increased greenhouse effect. Furthermore, due to Hpakant’s close proximity to the Uyu River, mining activity is likely to pollute the waters with silt and soil, resulting in thick sediment layers that impede the smooth flow of streams and rivers and ultimately may cause flooding. Other resulting forms of pollution include air, as dust is freely released into the environment, and sound, from the heavy machinery and explosions involved. Collectively, these forms of pollution can again impact the biodiversity of the area, not only restricted to the lithosphere this time. Additionally, mining also causes indirect exploitation of other natural resources by attracting people to woody frontiers, as previously seen for small-scale gold exploration in the Hukaung Valley (Papworth et al., 2017).

Petroleum Extraction

Myanmar is one of the world’s major producers of oil and gas, with exports starting in 1853 and reserves totalling 7.8 trillion cubic feet as of 2012 (BP2012). The recent Shwe Gas pipeline project constructed in 2013 is the biggest in the country, connecting the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar to China’s Yunnan Province. To facilitate this construction, large-scale land confiscation and military action for security reasons was conducted, which also led to increased human rights abuses and land confiscation where forced relocation was justified as providing “security” for the project and residents close to the project witnessed their lands confiscated with little to no compensation (EarthRights International, 2021). This is also the case for previous oil and gas projects such as the Yadana gas pipeline, which exports gas to Thailand. To make way for its 60 km pipeline, 30 houses were destroyed in Mon villages of Wae-ka-rat and Wae-thun-chaung. Earth Rights International (ERI) has extensively documented the land confiscations associated with the Yadana Yetagun pipelines, including anecdotal evidence of a local villager along the pipeline route: “There are about 180 households in the village… In the past they had their own plantations, but they had to give it away for the government’s palm plantation project and for the gas pipeline route” (Hossain, 2019).

However, the newly constructed Shwe Gas pipeline is 15 times the length of the Yadana, foreseeing much more devastating impacts. Another previous example is China and Singapore’s drilling activity in “Block M” on Ramree Island, Myanmar. Environmental ramifications of this project include deforestation to facilitate transportation, destroying the Kayak-Karen-Tanintharyi mountainous regions–one of Asia’s most pristine and biologically diverse wildernesses (Bruch et al., 2016), annihilation of paddy fields and plantation gardens (soil) of the natives by explosions and seismic surveying, water pollution in Chaung-wa stream from the mud released via drilling and air pollution near Rae-nan-taung villages as the plastic waste of drilling is burnt as a form of disposal.

Additionally, the extraction of oil and gas resources leads to their utilization, introducing a myriad of ramifications associated with fossil fuels. Firstly, the burning of fossil fuels to produce heat and electricity releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which were previously trapped underground for millions of years, adding extra amounts of carbon into the carbon cycle. The burning of fossil fuels also releases nitrogen and sulfur oxides into the atmosphere. These form air pollutants and in the presence of water, form acid rain. Precipitation also induces water pollution as it introduces these chemicals to water sources. Along with the pre-existent contamination through spills, leaks, and runoff in processes of drilling, transportation and storage, these impact aquatic ecosystems detrimentally. Furthermore, infrastructure development, another one of Myanmar’s many government controlled industries instituting environmental ramifications, is often taking place to assist the production of oil and gas in rural areas.

Industrial Agriculture

As global populations have grown and industrialization has expanded worldwide, Myanmar has also seen extensive agroindustrial growth, leading to widespread deforestation and forest conversion. For instance, Donald et al. observed in 2015 the expansion of oil-palm plantations, followed shortly after by an expansion of rubber-tree plantations, noted by Asselt et al in 2017. In addition, rural mangrove forests were converted to farm rice in the 2010’s (Webb et al. 2014; Richards & Friess 2016), the land area of which has tripled from 1990 to 2010. Due to this agricultural transformation, 64% of the 1978 mangrove area in Ayeyarwady Delta was deforested by 2011 (Webb et al. 2014). Besides rice, opium is another source of agricultural revenue for the military, with Myanmar being the biggest producer amongst the Southeast Asian countries (Bruch et al., 2016). Prescott et al. found in 2017 that abandonment of shifting cultivation has led to permanent forest loss (Vliet et al., 2012). Furthermore, agricultural monoculture contributes to depletion of particular soil nutrients and susceptibility to diseases. Illicit drug production also introduces unprecedented impacts revolving around deforestation as transport routes are provided for drug trafficking and hollowed-out logs are used to transport the drugs themselves (Bruch et al., 2016).

Infrastructure Expansion

In terms of industrial growth, infrastructure construction has been on the rise. Most of these are spanning across formerly uninhabited areas, for example the construction of oil and gas reserves mentioned above and of new highways, fueled by growing foreign investment (Laurance et al. 2009). Some examples are the highways from Dawei to Bangkok and Myeik to Dan Singkhon which are “cutting through one of the largest remaining contiguous blocks of forest in Southeast Asia” (Prescott et al., 2017). Environmental ramifications of infrastructure development include multiple forms of pollution during the construction process, deforestation to make space and consequently loss of biodiversity and once thriving ecosystems in the area.

Hydroelectric power

Related to infrastructure construction is the industry of hydroelectric power. Domestic and regional electricity demands have been increasing in conjunction with a growing population. This, coupled with the country’s desire for foreign exchange, has given rise to the utilization of Myanmar’s rivers’ potential for power generation (Prescott et al., 2017). Through the construction of four hydropower developments in Rakhine state, the country hopes to provide a long-term energy solution by enabling access to electricity for the whole country by 2030 (Hossain, 2019). Detailed by the plan, hydropower capacity is expected to nearly triple from 3151 MW to 9,000 MW (Hossain, 2019), the main source of which is going to be produced by the hydroelectric dam on Laymro river (Hossain, 2019). Summarizing from the development of the previous Tasang Dam project, which was the tallest in Southeast Asia (Molle et al. 2012), locals’ access to communal grazing lands and bamboo forests will be extremely restricted due to the large security perimeters that have been set up around the sites (Hossain, 2019). As a result, they will lose their only source of income, their access to the local economy, and the stability and sustainability of their way of life. Worse still, it has been suggested that many people, possibly entire villages, will be forced off their lands to make way for the dam facilities and the reservoirs, without receiving any compensation from the government (Hossain, 2019). While hydroelectric power is a much more sustainable alternative to the other energy generation industries mentioned above, extreme environmental impacts on the surrounding land and ecosystems can be introduced if flooding occurs. Moreover, the construction of the hydroelectric dam will also damage the original aquatic ecosystem on which it is constructed, often completely destroying it because of the many changes in water temperature, chemistry, and flow.

Timber Extraction

Last but not least, the timber extraction industry in Myanmar, which started in the 1970s, is of considerable scale and significance. Much of the government’s wealth is generated in the form of wood by revenue from China (Bruch et al., 2016). Timber in Myanmar is also only accessible through Myanmar Timber Merchants Association, and the majority is distributed to large and well-connected enterprises. Illegal logging is a potential result of this, meaning more timber is being harvested than stated by the government, which is probably the optimal amount to still maintain a functional ecosystem.

Other than deforestation, logging also introduces environmental ramifications of depletion of oxygen, soil loss, impact on other plants and susceptibility to droughts. Destruction of plant life generally decreases oxygen due to the decrease of functional photosynthesizing beings, which is also connected to the release of carbon which was originally stored in the trees. Additionally, cutting down trees leaves soil exposed to wind and rain, leading to erosion. The trees that are involved in logging are often the tallest, forming a canopy cover that provides shade and shelter. However, by removing these, the canopy is reduced and thus the understory and shrub levels of a forest are exposed, making other flora more vulnerable to weather conditions and the ground more susceptible to droughts. This can then lead to biodiversity loss as their habitat is deteriorated, gradually becoming unfitting for habitation. For instance, the Burmese hare feed on “vegetation such as grass, low shrubs and tree bark.” (Ecology Asia, 2024). However, logging impacts their diet as tree bark is deprived due to deforestation, and grass and low shrubs are more vulnerable to other environmental impacts because of the loss of forest canopy cover.

Discussion, Conclusion, and further recommendations

The table below illustrates the variety of environmental ramifications that each industry brings about. Each row is also organized like the order of the body where the importance is determined by the number of industries that contribute to environmental harm, indicated by the green highlights below. While each industry impacts the environment to a different extent, albeit some in the same way, it is not feasible to establish a qualitative means of comparison. This is also the case in measuring the significance of each environmental impact. Thus, the criteria for the comparison of importance was determined to be the quantitative measure of the number of environmental impacts that each industry leads to addressed in the previous section.

The order of the most prevalent environmental impacts introduced by the industries are as follows: ecosystem destruction; deforestation; soil erosion and pollution; water, air, and sound pollution; CO2 release and resulting impacts, and finally oxygen depletion. The results suggest that the ecosystems and forests in Myanmar are damaged to the greatest extent by the industries explored in this paper.

However, it is important to note the interconnectedness of these environmental impacts where one ramification can exacerbate another. For instance, soil erosion contributes to sedimentation in water bodies, exacerbating water pollution and the probability of flooding.

See figure 3 for a comprehensive web of the cyclical relationships between the environmental ramifications.

Likewise, many of these industries can explicitly increase the demands of another industry, such as petroleum extraction and hydroelectric power industries directly requiring infrastructure expansion to support its technical demands.

The absence of native populations has created an opportunity for intensified industry, as they are no longer in charge of this land. This has exposed land originally used for native farming methods like shifting cultivation, which rejuvenates the land through the periodic rests, to control and free reign from the government, resulting in increased exploitation in the forms of the different industries. Thus, environmental degradation has accelerated.

One important consideration identified by this review is that some future research should take a holistic approach where environmental effects are examined as a complex web of different factors, like it appears in the natural world, rather than separate entities. It would also be beneficial to adopt an interdisciplinary approach in environmental science, especially when dealing with the relationship between societies and the environment. In this case, the cross-disciplinary collaboration between environmental science with sociology, history and other humanities subjects would encourage a comprehensive and multifaceted address of environmental concerns. Understanding the complexities and interconnected nature of environmental factors and environmental studies with other fields is crucial in identifying and addressing underlying roots of situations that may present themselves on the surface as environmental ramifications, leading to more sustainable and long lasting solutions.

In the instance of the Burmese refugees, the root cause would be the extended discrimination of the indigenous tribes. Therefore, it is important to address this problem in order to conserve the still biodiversity-rich environment of Myanmar. Chaturvedi, associate publisher at Springer Nature group and researcher, proposes the inclusion and participation of all ethnic groups in the country’s affairs and decision making processes as a solution in her article Myanmar’s Ethnic Divide: The Parallel Struggle (2012). There is a need to identify and explain how this can be accomplished with the discrimination that is already rooted in the society and ingrained in the minds of other citizens. (source)

Additionally, religion can be used as a force for action against environmental degradation. According to Buddhism, all things are interconnected, which is a similar ecological worldview with conservation science (Chong, 2012) and the points mentioned above. This can be especially effective in Myanmar, as many of those more affluent and in places of authority are Buddhist. For instance, in northern Thailand, trees have been “ordained” in an effort to prevent deforestation of where monks reside and practice meditation (Chong, 2012). A similar practice can be considered in Myanmar to establish ecosystem and forest protection measures.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mentor John-Paul Angulo at Polygence for his valuable contribution and guidance in this research process. Additionally, I am also thankful for the Polygence Research Program for providing me with the opportunity and technical assistance to make this research possible.