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Phulbari Coal Mine, Bangladesh


In the Phulbari area of Northwest Bangladesh, communities have come together to raise their voices against the proposed Phulbari Coal Project--which threatens to turn this fertile agricultural region into an open-pit coal mine.  If implemented, the mine would have devastating environmental impacts and ultimately displace up to 220,000 people.

Breaking News & Campaign Highlights

May 10, 2012: GCM redoubles its efforts to force the Phulbari Coal Project forward, despite call by the UN for an immediate halt.  Activist groups fear renewed violence, as new propaganda leaflets & posters are distributed to sow confusion and mistrust within threatened communities...more>>>

May 7, 2012: Police attack and beat demonstrators calling on the government of Bangladesh to halt the Phulbari Coal Mine and pursue renewable energy, injuring 15 people...more>>>

February 29, 2012: UN Experts issue press release calling for a halt to the Phulbari Coal Project, warning that it threatens fundamental human rights...more>>>

Key Resources

Read IAP's Phulbari Fact Sheet

View IAP's Phulbari Slideshow

Read IAP's Analysis of the Indigenous People's Development Plan for the Phulbari project

Current Status

The Phulbari mining is now at a critical juncture.  The project was stalled, in the planning phase, when emergency rule was imposed in Bangladesh in January 2007.  However, following national elections in December 2008, a new administration is actively reconsidering open pit mining of the nation's coal and the Phulbari project's financier, Global Coal Management Resources plc (GCM), has resumed aggressive efforts to push the project forward.  

Overview

The Phulbari mining project involves an open-pit coal mine in northwest Bangladesh and the construction of at least one 500-MW power plant. At peak production, about eight million tons of coal would be transported by rail and barges to an offshore reloading facility located in Akram Point. An additional four million tons would be exported to India via railway, and the remaining three million tons would be used for domestic energy consumption ...more >>

Concerns

Human rights: The grassroots resistance responding to the Phulbari project has been met with egregious consequences. In August 2006, the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force, opened fire on the 50,000 local people who were conducting a peaceful protest in Phulbari. Three people were killed, including a 14-year old boy, and as many as 200 people were wounded.  Local communities, national Bangladeshi NGOs, and international advocacy organizations have taken up the call, “Ban Open Pit Mining in Phulbari!”

Displacement: The Phulbari coal mine would destroy 14,660 acres (around 23 sq. miles) of land, 80 percent of which is fertile farmland.  It would physically displace as many as 220,000 people, mostly farming and indigenous households. This uprooting and resettlement of entire villages is being planned in one of the world's most densely populated countries.  Project plans clearly state that the agricultural land and other vital resources that affected households rely on would not be replaced and "most households will become landless."  In short, the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people would be irrevocably disrupted by a mining operation that would transform productive farmers into landless people with no clear prospects for other livelihoods or employment.

Food and Water Security:  The loss of Phulbari's agricultural lands undermines efforts to overcome hunger in a nation in which nearly half of all people do not have enough food to eat (exist below the nutrition poverty line).  Phulbari is a fertile and vital food-growing region that produces between two and four crops per year including rice, the staple crop.  The project would also reduce water supplies for roughly 220,000 people by lowering the water table throughout a vast region extending six miles beyond the mine's footprint.     

Environment:  Experts warn that the Phulbari project risks acid mine contamination of soil and water.  With coal accounting for roughly 20% of the world's greenhouse gases, carbon emissions from the project pose a threat to economically poor countries, like Bangladesh, that lack the systems to adequately adapt to increases in flooding and violent storms resulting from global warming.  The project threatens the Sundarbans - a UNESCO-protected wetlands habitat that is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world and a life-saving buffer against cyclones and flooding.  Project design calls for eight million metric tons of coal to be exported by rail and barges through the Sundarbans.  Four million metric tons would be transported to India through the rail network. This international transport is planned despite provisions in the Bangladeshi mining law that prohibit the export of coal.

Our Approach

In September of  2011, IAP submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations, requesting immediate action to avert further human rights violations associated with the Phulbari Coal Project and ensure that the government of Bangladesh uphold its human rights obligations in all decisions and processes related to the mine.  Working with an international coalition, IAP is raising awareness with financial institutions involved in the project around the risks to people and the environment. IAP carried out a close analysis of the draft Resettlement Plan developed by the project sponsor, Global Coal Management Resources Plc. (CGM) and it's wholly owned subsidiary, Asia Energy Corporation. This analysis, along with letters, articles and other reports about the project, was delivered to GCM, the Asian Development Bank, and private banks holding or managing shares in GCM.  IAP's analysis was published Bangladesh in 2010, along with an analysis by mining expert, Roger Moody.  See Books & Reports below.

Campaign Updates

  • December 29, 2011: Police in riot gear attack demonstrators calling for cancellation of the Phulbari Coal Project, injuring at least 35 people.  See news coverage under Selected media releases and articles below.
  • December 15, 2011: Shareholder activism at GCM's annual general meeting in London.  International Accountability Project joins forces with London Mining Network and Phulbari Solidarity Group to pose some hard-hitting questions about violence, deaths, and other human rights violations associated with the Phulbari project to GCM's board.  Read the report here.
  • December 15, 2011: Bangladeshi activists in London unite in protest outside GCM's AGM, demanding that the UK-based company be "evicted" from Bangladesh and calling upon their Prime Minister to defend human rights by rejecting the Phulbari project and banning open pit mining.  Read the Morning Star news article on the demonstration organized by the UK Branch of Bangladesh's National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, Power, and Ports here.
  • December 12, 2011: "The Phulbari Coal Project: Risks, Impacts, and Resistance," Seminar at Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, London  ...more>>>

  • November 3, 2011:  85 civil society organizations worldwide sign onto letter calling on GCM investors to disinvest and halt all support for the Phulbari Coal Project.  Read the letter here.
  • September 22, 2011: IAP submits urgent appeal to the United Nations on behalf of human rights defenders in Bangladesh. Read the letter here.
  • May 18, 2011: Experts warn that a proposed coal-fired power plant at Rampal may destroy the Sundarbans, one of the world’s largest mangrove forests, an UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site that provides habitat to many endangered species including the Bengal Tiger, and Bangladesh's only protection against tropical storms ...more>>>
  • May 17, 2011: Bangladesh's State minister for Land, Mostafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, argues that environmental concerns should not delay formulation of the nation's new coal policy: "Environment hazards like explosions in gas well in Sylhet did not come in the way of development of gas sector" the minister stated.  "Similarly, environmental issues should not be an obstacle to formulation of coal policy"...more>>>
  • May 5, 2011: IAP issues Press Release to draw international attention to violence against people peacefully protesting open pit coal mines in Phulbari and Barapukuria ...more>>>
  • Feb. 28, 2011: Massive Protest Rally in Phulbari as thousands of demonstrators block the region’s major highway to protest against government plans for open pit coal mining in Phulbari and nearby Barapukuria and demand compensation for lost crops and the destruction of their lands ...more>>>
  • Feb. 8, 2011: IAP and Cultural Survival joint Press Release announces the launch of a Global Response Phulbari Campaign. Read the release here>
  • Jan. 25, 2011: Urgent Action Alert to Save the Sundarbans & Stop the Phulbari Coal Mine issued by the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), a global network of over 450 NGOs and 350 scientists.  Read the alert here>
  • Dec. 21, 2010: WikiLeaks cable reveals US diplomats pushed Bangladesh to re-open the Phulbari Coal Projects, to advance US interests tied to the project.  Read the article in the Guardian>
  • December 6, 2010: braving threats of physical violence from GCM investors, opponents of the Phulbari project united outside GCM's annual general meeting to protest the company's efforts to protest the company's  efforts to establish an immense open- pit coal mine in Bangladesh.  View a video of the demonstration here, and read international news coverage below under Selected media releases and articles.
  • December 2, 2010: Protect Resources of Banglade announces a blockade of GCM's annual general meetings in London.  The protest action is supported by a broad international coalition ...more>>
  • October 24-31, 2010: Bangladesh's Long March.  The aim of halting one of the world’s largest open pit coalmines in Phulbari united tens of thousands of people in Bangladesh, who joined a 250 mile march spanning seven days during the last week of October, 2010.  Organizers estimate that as many as 100,000 people joined a massive rally on the final day of the march ...more >>


Learn More...

Watch the YouTube video on the Phulbari Resistance:

Watch the YouTube video of the Protest at GCM's 2010 AGM in London:

Selected media releases and articles:

Books & Reports

More Actions & Updates

  • Global Response program director Paula Palmer is interviewed regarding the Phulbari project on Bob Kincaid's radio program, Head On, March 28, 2011.  Listen to the program here.
  • Cultural Survival launches international letter writing Global Response Campaign on the Phulbari Coal Mine and submits letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina calling on her to reject the project and ban open-pit mining, March 2011 ...more>
  • Mangrove Action Project launches international campaign and petition to Save the Sundarbans and Halt the Phulbari Coal Mine Project,January 2011 ... more>
  • Civil society organizations respond to GCM statement to U.K. Joint Committee on Human Rights ...more >
  • Global civil society letter: Over 100 civil society organizations call on investors to divest from the Phulbari Coal Project, with the simultaneous release of a critical report ...more >>
  • World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) calls for urgent action to prevent further violence resulting from efforts to force the Phulbari coal mine forward, OCMT, Geneva, July 3, 2008 ...more>>
  • Barclays sells its shares in Phulbari mining company: In June 2008, the U.K. based Barclays Bank withdrew financial support from the Phulbari coal project ...more >>
  • Barclays is questioned about its involvement in Phulbari: On April 24, 2008, at the Barclays Bank Annual Meeting in London, IAP and World Development Movement raised questions to the Barclay's Board of Directors about the project's adherence to the bank's environmental and social commitments. Read more about Barclays Bank at banktrack.org.
  • ADB financing under question: On April 3, 2008, civil society groups announced to the media that the ADB has pulled its financing from the Phulbari coal project. Read the civil society press release. (doc 35 KB)
  • World Organization Against Torture (OCMT) issues emergency appeal, Bangladesh: Risk of violent suppression of public opposition to Phulbari coal mine project, OCMT, Geneva, December 21, 2007. 

Correspondence:

Civil society websites:

Bank and company websites: 

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