China · Myanmar · Rest of World
The hidden cost of Myanmar’s rare earth mines
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This story was originally published by Grist, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, and republished by Rest of World.
Key facts
- But China’s customs reports show that from 2017 to 2024, it imported more than 320,000 tons (290,000 metric tonnes) of rare earths from Myanmar, or roughly two-thirds of its total imports
- Assigned to build roads, Min and his brother each earned around 3,000 yuan ($430) a month
- As many of his peers fled Myanmar, Min paid a broker 2,000 Chinese yuan ($290) to arrange jobs for him and his younger brother at a rare earth mining site in an autonomous region controlled
- The conflict monitoring organization Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, or ACLED, has ranked Myanmar’s war as the second most extreme on the planet, and also the world’s most fragmented, with more
Summary
When Min left the hot, dusty plains of central Myanmar for its mountainous eastern border with China earlier this year, he had few options. As many of his peers fled Myanmar, Min paid a broker 2,000 Chinese yuan ($290) to arrange jobs for him and his younger brother at a rare earth mining site in an autonomous region controlled by a powerful ethnic army. Assigned to build roads, Min and his brother each earned around 3,000 yuan ($430) a month. His family held religious rites without his brother’s body, which could not be transported.