The dirty secrets behind Myanmar's rare-earths boom

The dirty secrets behind Myanmar's rare-earths boom

Myanmar is caught in a scramble for minerals. Their exploitation is causing deaths and environmental harm in the country's Kachin State, activists tell DW. Can the region's independence movement make a difference?

"Pas på de sjældne jordarter," whispers Rasmus, the imperturbable permanent undersecretary of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Borgen series: Kingdom, Power and Glory (2022). He does so in Danish so as not to be intercepted by his interlocutor. The warning, "Care for the Rare Lands", is addressed to his head, powerful Chancellor Birgitte Nyborg, who at that time faces the Chinese ambassador for finding strategic resources in Greenla…