Protests worsen at Canadian-owned mine in Kyrgyzstan







There have been a series of violent protests outside a Canadian-owned gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. The incidents have been severe enough to drive the government to issue of State of Emergency in the country. The Associated Press has reported that as of Friday May 31st, 50 people have been injured, and as many as 2000 people were involved in the protest at Kumtor mine, which is based in Toronto and owned by Centerra.

Reuters has reported that there have been a variety of motivations behind the protesters actions; ranging from nationalization of the mine, which represents twelve percent of Kyrgyzstan’s entire economic revenue, to a call for the company to contribute more to the country in way of social services; such as building schools, and investment in infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, and jobs- Reuters reports.

The request by the people of Kyrgyzstan is not unfounded, especially considering the Canadian company makes an average of one billion dollars annually, and the country of Kyrgyzstan is still considered a developing country according to the World Bank, which reports the average income of citizens as early as 2008 as $122.04 per month.

Surely, wealthy countries wishing to expropriate a country’s natural resources should have to help aid in its development rather than simply just taking from the people and land and then leaving when the gold is gone.

This is not the first time Canadian mining companies have gotten in hot water with the Indigenous people of the lands they mine. The Huffington Post reports in summer of 2012 engineers were kidnapped by the Indigenous people of Columbia, who were angry with the their presence from the South American Silver company. Thousands of Columbians protested the risk to the water in their region due to the Vancouver based Eco-Oro Mineral company.

What protests like the one in Kumtor mine, and others around the world show us, is the lack of respect Canada has for the countries it does business with. If this is how Canadian companies conduct themselves overseas, what kind of effect can this lack of tact have on our own environment in places like Alberta, and the North West Territories?  The practices these companies use are clearly the same at home and abroad, and have damaging effects on both the people and the environments in which they work.


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