The All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG) met Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) from Brazil and Indonesia, accompanied by the London Mining Network, on 19 October 2016.

The speakers were:

• Letícia Oliveria Gomes de Faria from Brazil;
• Maria do Carmo Silva D’Angelo from Brazil
• Arie Rompas from Indonesia.

The main points which arose were as follows:

• The operations of the mining industry in Brazil and in Indonesia have had negative impacts on local populations. The example of the Samarco disaster in Brazil, where a damn broke and flooded nearby communities with mud, clearly illustrates the negative impact these companies’ activities can have. Livelihoods and small companies were destroyed because of this disaster. In Kalimantan, Indonesia, as a result of a break in a local tailings dam, water became polluted and the communities were not able to drink it or bathe in it.
• Companies should be held to account through the law for any disasters and the many negative impacts of their activities on local people. Governments have been ineffective in reprimanding the companies, or may often side with them. This has been the case even when the company has wanted to take land from those in local communities. In the Kalimantan region of Indonesia, BHP Billington had planned to open a coal mine on land belonging to local indigenous people; there were reports of intimidation, manipulation and even imprisonment in response to local resistance to the land acquisition.
• Consultation by companies with the local population after a disaster is necessary to establish what the community needs. Following these disasters, however, there has been little discussion with the local communities affected about what is needed to rebuild their homes and livelihoods. In Brazil, many people affected by the Samarco disaster have been not recognised as such by the company, and therefore have not received compensation. Similarly, the company is reported to be covering the mud rather than clearing it up, and has not yet built new houses which it has promised to those affected.
• There have been repeated disasters by mining companies. There needs to be human rights due diligence; the French and Swiss are leading on this, and the UK should too.

The PHRG will continue to follow cases involving human rights violations resulting from mining operations, and to raise the risks faced by those HRDs who campaign on such issues with relevant interlocutors.