Where? 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ (Nearest tube station: Hyde Park Corner)
Hand-painted banner for victims of Phulbari shooting. Photo credit: Peter Marshall
This year marked the tenth anniversary of Phulbari outburst, where three people were shot dead and two hundred injured in a demonstration of 80,000 people in 2006 for opposing plans by a London-based AIM-listed mining company, Global Coal Management Resources (GCM). Formerly known as Asia Energy, the company wants to build a massive open cast coal mine in Phulbari, Bangladesh. The project threatens to destroy the homes, lands, and water sources of as many as 220,000 people, and forcibly evict an estimated 130,000 people. If implemented, it would destroy 14,600 hectares of highly cultivable land and would leave devastative impact on the world’s largest mangrove forests and UNESCO heritage site, the Sunderbans.
The government has declined to renew GCM’s license. The company does not hold a valid contract with Bangladesh, while they are selling shares in the name of Phulbari project in London. GCM’s CEO, Gary Lye, has been systematically abusing local opponents of the project. Earlier this year, Lye has filed multiple arbitrary cases against 26 frontline local leaders against mining in Phulbari and Dinajpur, making the lives of local farmers and small business entrepreneurs unbearable.
We have been telling the company to stop abuse and corruption in Bangladesh for years. We have been going to their annual general meetings every year since 2008 but they cannot hear us. In 2012 Santa Claus has poured a sack of coal on the desk of board of directors as a punishment, and subsequently the ex-chairman of the company has resigned and the company had to change venue from Tower Hamlets to 4 Hamilton Place in Holborn. We have also written to UK’s ex-prime minister, David Cameron , who said that he would have looked into the case but never did. We have submitted three separate complaints to Houses of Parliament in the UK and our friends at International Accountability Project and Global Justice Now have lodged an OECD complaint to UK’s National Contact Point. In 2013 and 2014, Phulbari protesters have disrupted GCM’s AGM and dumped coal in the door way which the corrupt investors should have found hard to forget. Last year we have given a final notice of closure to the company which a delegation of protesters inside the AGM has read out and handed in to the current chairman, Michael Tang. Yet GCM continues to push Bangladesh government to approve a dodgy deal that is absurd.
The company has announced to hold its annual general meeting on 15 December in 2016. Therefore, we are heading to Aeronautical Society to disrupt and shut down GCM’s annual general meeting. We will charge the corrupt businessmen inside and outside the AGM. They must learn a better lesson than previous years.
JOIN US Inside and Outside the AGM on Thursday 15 December at4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ (Nearest tube station: Hyde Park Corner).
Please confirm your participation via Facebook here. Bring your noisy instruments and whistles to disrupt the AGM of corrupt miners. See you there!
Commemoration and celebration go together at London Stock Exchange 26 August 2016 Photo credit: Peter Marshall
PHULBARI DAY VIGIL TURNS INTO HEATED DEMO
By Paul Dudman
Friday the 26th August, marked a decade of halt to plans by an AIM-listed British company, Global Coal Resources Management (GCM), who want to build a massive open cast coal mine by forcibly displacing 130,000 people in Phulbari, northwest Bangladesh. A four day long Commemoration for victims of Phulbari outburst, where three protesters were shot dead by police in 2006, was held in Dkaka, Dinajpur, Phulbari, London and Germany.
On the final day of remembrance, on 30th August, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports in Bangladesh has declared a fresh programme in Phulbari to kick GCM out of Bangladesh as the CEO of the company has recently filed multiple arbitrary charges against indigenous farmers, small businessmen and local leaders who opposed the mine.
In London Bangladeshi and South Asian community activists under the banner of Phulbari Solidarity Groupheld a colourful and powerful commemoration rally outside the London Stock Exchange , calling for the de-listing of the company from London’ share market. Despite heavy securitization and repeated attempts of interruptions by British police, angry protesters blocked the pavement of the entrance of London Stock Exchange for two hours and demanded immediate de-registration of GCM for its unethical business, deceitful marketing of Phullbari project, and for human rights abuse in Dinajpur and Phulbari.
Of what was meant to be a Red Vigil for Victims of Phulbari has turned into a commemoration come noise demo as the CEO of London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet KBE, failed to respond to the protesters’ call for de-listing of GCM. Priorhand, the Phulbari Solidarity Group has contacted the CEO of London Stock Exchange and submitted evidence of unethical business of the company. But the CEO did not respond to their request for an appointment, said Rumana Hashem of Phulbari Solidarity Group.
Police objects to the blockade of LSE pavement but PSG Founder Rumana Hashem says:” the banner for the victims will not be removed.” Photo credit: Peter Marshall
A remembrance vigil was held, followed by an angry demo with Santal and Tamil drumming, and ended with tribute being paid by laying wreaths, flowers and lighting candles for the three people who were killed by paramilitary force, allegedly paid by the company, in Phulbari on 26 August in 2006.
Wearing masks of Gary Lye (CEO of GCM) and Michael Tang (the Chairman of the company), the protesters sang Phulbari jingles against coal mine. The protest observed a three-minute silence for the three victims, Al Amin, Mohammad Salekin, and Tarikul Islam, who died in the Phulbari shooting. Dressed in red, blue and black, protesters laid down a banner for victims, stating “YOUR DEATH WILL NOT BE IN VAIN”, on the pavement of the London Stock Exchange.
Protesters from Bangladesh were joined by international and British environmental campaigners, and advocates for human rights, anti-mining movement and workers rights.
GCM CEO Gary Lye and company Chairman Michael Tang stood as numb and blatant guilty. Photocredit: Peter Marhsall
Dressed in red, blue and black protesters outside the London Stock Exchange paid a two-hour homage to the victims. A banner, stating “YOUR DEATH WILL NOT BE IN VAIN” was laid on the pavement of the London Stock Exchange Group’s Headquarter for International Trading.
Hand-painted banner for victims of Phulbari shooting. Photocredit: Peter Marshall
Protesters from Bangladesh were joined by international and British environmental campaigners, and advocates for human rights, anti-mining and workers rights. Among others, Foil Vedanta, European Action for Climate, London Mining Network, Global Justice Campaign, the Socialist Party of England and Wales, Tamil Solidarity, UK Commitee to Protect Resources of Bangladesh, and Voice of Freedom have made it explicit that they will stand with Phulbari people in their struggle.
The sound of compassion, sadness, empowerment and resistance echoed in the protest, and the firm speeches by passionate activists and outrageous crimes by British multinational companies overseas was heard by the entire Paternoster Square on Friday – although none from London Stock Exchange seemed concerned about these crimes.
Simultaneously, tributes were paid to the victims of Phulbari at National Martyrs Monument in Dhaka, and red vigil and cultural events took place in Phulbari under the banner of National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port in Bangladesh (NCBD in short). In the four-day commemoration events (26-30 August) and celebration of the halt, they demanded the ban of the company in Bangladesh for its ongoing abuse of activists in Phulbari and increasing corruption in Bangladesh.
Christine Hague of Global Justice Now told about how partially OECD complaint against GCM was treated by UK NCP. Photo credit: Peter Marshall
The company has been allegedly involved in various forms of abuse and harassment of local activists and opponents of the proposed Phulbari mine. Media report on the brutal death of Nasrin Huq , the former executive director of Action Aid in Dhaka, revealed that in 2005 Huq was killed brutally in her car park for her opposition to the project. A report to which the company was unable to respond was published in the Observer.[i] Later in 2006 three people were shot dead and two hundred injured in a demonstration of 80,000 people who marched against plans by the company. Local organisers have reported that the company has bribed the paramilitary personnel and forced them to open fire against the decision of the Police Magistrate on duty who stated that there was no permission for shooting on people. There were over 200 people injured and many abused on the same day. The day has been called Phulbari Day since, and powerful resistance in the aftermath of the shooting against open-cast mine in Phulbari has put a decade long halt to the project. Government has cancelled the company’s license. But the company has been pushing the government to give them a go ahead.
The company’s CEO, Gary N Lye, has been allegedly harassing opponents of the project and the company has been extremely abusive to indigenous farmers, local organisers of Phulbari outburst, and small business entrepreneurs who demanded the company’s ban in Phulbari. After the shooting and deaths of three people on 26 August in 2006, Gary Lye stated that he is businessman and he understands nothing but coal. In a live interview with Farzana Rupa on ATN Bangla TV, Lye said: “I am a businessman , my business is to extract coal. It is not my business to know who dies and who cries” (ATN Bangla News, 26 August 2006). Locals have declared that this CEO is unwanted in Phulbari and when he attempted to re-enter Phulbari town he was resisted by locals in November 2014.
Background
Last month, a day before the International Mangrove Action Day when Bangladeshis was focused on the controversial deal on Rampal power plant, the company has filed multiple cases against 26 key indigenous organisers and local leaders, farmers, small scale business entrepreneurs, and students who opposed the mine in Phulbari. The arbitrary charges formed on 25 July, 2016, at Dinajpur Magistrate Court appeared as extremely abusive and the next hearing on 7 September will be a crucial day for all those fighting the fraught.
The NCBD has declared a fresh programme on Phulbari Day to fight GCM and ban the Phulbari project. This includes rally demanding a ban of the company in Phulbari on 25 October, blockade of the Dinajpur District Commissioner’s Office on 21 November and half-day strike in Phulbari on 21 December. If demands are unfulfilled by December, intense and unending strike would start. Phulbari Solidarity Group believes that that this will not be needed as activists in London will hold the company to account and will ensure a ban of GCM from London Stock Exchange before the end of this year.
Protesters is paying tribute to the victms of Phulbari with flowers and by lighting candles on 26 Aug 2006 at London Stock Exchange. Photo credit: Kerima Mohiuddin
Although GCM does not have a valid contract with Bangladesh, they are selling shares in the name of Phulbari project. The company has changed its name from Asia Energy to Global Coal Management in 2010, and continued lobbying for Phulbari coal mine in Bangladesh. If the mine is built, 130,000 families of farmers in Phulbari would be forcibly displaced. It would destroy 14,600 hectares of highly cultivable land, would pose threats to clean water resources and would leave devastative impact on one of the world’s largest mangrove forests and UNESCO heritage site, the Sunderbans. Despite grave concerns at national and international level, and declaration made by seven UN rapporteurs, GCM is pushing the government to give it a go ahead.
Arguments with Police – a community leader tells Police not to interfere with demonstrators. Photo credit: Peter Marshall
Phulbari Solidairty Group’s Founder and an eye witness to the shooting in 2006, Dr Rumana Hashem, lights a candle for the victims of Phulbari at the entrance of London Stock Exchange. Photo credit : Peter Marshall
Contact for further information: 07714288221, 07956260791.
Friday, the 26th of August marks a decade of the Phulbari outburst. In 2006 three people were shot dead and two hundred injured in a demonstration of 80,000 people who marched against plans by an AIM-listed British company, Global Coal Resources Management , who wants to build a massive open cast coal mine in Phulbari, a location in northwest Bangladesh. The day has been called Phulbari Day since, and powerful resistance in the aftermath of the shooting against open-cast mine in Phulbari has put a decade long halt to the project. Government has cancelled the company’s license. Although GCM does not have a valid contract with Bangladesh, they are selling shares in the name of Phulbari project. The company has changed its name from Asia Energy to Global Coal Management in 2010, and continued its dodgy deals and lobbying for Phulbari coal mine in Bangladesh.
If the mine is built, 130,000 families of farmers in Phulbari would be forcibly displaced. It would destroy 14,600 hectares of highly cultivable land, would pose threats to clean water resources and would leave devastative impact on one of the world’s largest mangrove forests and UNESCO heritage site, the Sunderbans. Despite grave concerns at national and international level, and declaration made by seven UN rapporteurs, GCM is pushing the government to give it a go ahead.
The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Port-Power and Mineral Resources in Bangladesh has called upon national and global environmentalists to observe 10th anniversary of Phulbari outburst and to protest against GCM’s dodgy business and to mark the decade of Phulbari Resistance. In conjunction with the Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Port-Power and Mineral Resources, we will celebrate the decade-long struggle in London.
We will hold a Red Vigil for Victims of Phulbari outside the London Stock Exchange at 11am next Friday. We will ask London Stock Exchange to De-list GCM Plc and to show cause Gary Lye’s gang for selling fake shares. We will commemorate for the lost lives by rallying against GCM. We will celebrate our decade-long resistance by turning the commemoration event into a powerful rally against dark coal business.
Bring your organisation’s banner, noisy/music instruments and flowers for the victims if you can. Wear Red, Black or Blue as symbols of Resistance, Anguish and Celebration of struggle!
Local women, men and children cried out to save their homes, lands and lives in Phulbari in the aftermath of the GCM-provoked shooting in Phulbari. Photo: 28 August 2006
Mothers, sisters, wives and all the effected women vowed to protect Phulbari through outburst after the shooting on 26 August 2006. Copyright: PSG
Sundarbans, the World’s Largest Mangrove Forest is Under Attack. Save the Sundarbans and Stop Coal Fired Rampal Power Plant.
Recently, the Government of Bangladesh has signed an agreement with India’s state run Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd to set up a coal fired 1320 MW power plant on the edge of the world’s biggest heritage-listed mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. Rampal power plant will emit huge amount of carbon, sulphur, toxic gases, smoke and ashes which will destroy the forest.
Pollution from Ash and Smoke: – Annually, around 0.94 million tons of ash will be generated from the plant, of which 80% will be dry fly ash and the rest of the 20% will be bottom ash. This ash will contain many heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium, beryllium, barium, cadmium, chromium, selenium and, radium, which are dangerous if released into environment. Toxic ash and smoke from burnt coal will pollute the air, land and water bodies and will endanger plant and wildlife.
Water Contamination: Water will be contaminated due to toxic ash, oil and coal spillage from the coal carrying vessels and other waste discharge.
Noise Pollution: There will be a lot of noise pollution from coal power plant itself, from transportation of coal carrying vessels and loading and unloading of coal. Noise pollution will endanger wildlife.
Destruction of the Forest:
All the above mentioned disadvantages will results in destruction of Sundarbans, wildlife, flora and fauna, ecology and the environment.
Friends, please join us to stop this poisonous coal fired Rampal power plant and save Sundarbans!
Say NO to DESTRUCTIVE #RAMPALCOALPOWERPLANT
National Committee to Protect Oil Gas and Mineral Resources in Bangladesh, The UK branch
As you might have awaited update from Thursday’s public march against the destructive Rampal coal-power plant, we are in the process of doing a detailed and analytical report on the attack on peaceful marchers and the fascism of Bangladeshi police. For now, note that the Dhaka protest was attacked by state law enforcement force, and the Prime Minister shamefully denied to meet with the concerned citizens of Bangladesh who wanted to handover a statement to their Prime Minister.
Dhaka March to Save the Sunderbans on 28 July 2016. copy right @NCBD Dhaka
When the marchers walked towards the Prime Minister’s office to submit a statement to save the Sunderbans, police unleashed violence on peaceful marchers, threw tear shells over a march of 200 protesters who sought to handover a public statement against the dark Rampal deal that would destroy the world’s largest mangrove, the Sunderbans. Many of our activists, including the Member Secretary of NCBD, Professor Anu Muhammad, were severely injured as beaten up by fascist police force who acted on behalf of a fascist government. Students and women-environmentalists were beaten to such that several of them were taken to hospital in critical condition.
The leaders of National Committee and frontline organisers of the march were abused and six front-line protesters, including Anu Muhammad, were detained on arbitrary charges. Police did not only abuse and charge activists but also foiled the well-written public statement, which demanded the immediate cancellation of the destructive Rampal coal-fired plant, to symbolise that commons and citizens do not have the right to express opinion on natural and national resources in Bangladesh.
In a nutshell, we have seen a fascist face of the government of Bangladesh in the month of Mangrove Action. We have witnessed how a so called pro-independence government deployed fascist police to dismiss people’s urge to preserve national sovereignty. The state-law enforcement force had foiled demands to conserve the world’s largest mangrove forest just a day after the International Mangrove Action Day. This is shocking and sickening.
Dhaka March to PM office on 28 July 2016. Copyright @NCBD
Although media coverage of this heinous attack on peaceful marchers was poor, we have heard the sound of angers, condemnation and protests across the earth on Thursday. In London, the Bangladeshi community rallied under the banner of protect resources of Bangladesh, the UK branch, and unreservedly condemned the attacked on environmentalists and progressive activists in Dhaka.
London protest against destructive Rampal power plant on 28 July 2016. Photo credit: Shefa Ahmed and Rumana Hashem
Despite miserable weather and a week day afternoon, there was a great turn up of saddened Bengalese at Altab Ali Park at Aldgate East. Speakers include Bangladesh Socialist Party leader, Mostofa Kamal, European-Bangladesh Climate Change, Ansar Ahmed Ullah, Communist party leader, Dr Mohammad Ali Khan Jinnah, Photo journalist Peter Marshall, Worker’s party leader Ishaque Kajole, Dr Mokhlesur Rahman of NCBD UK , Dr Rumana Hashem of PSG and other community organisers. We were, of course, present at the rally from Phulbari Solidairty Group. But the question is: does the Bangladesh government care for what we think and say about our national environment and national resources?
We will be updating you on further development on this via twitter, blog and mailing lists.
What you can do to help us:
We would appreciate it if you can re-tweet our news and if you can tweet @PSG-BD
Please do your own outreach by using hashtag #Rampal and #SavetheSunderbans
We would appreciate it if you can avoid asking for money/donation from people for this mangrove action. Any sort of donation based campaign can undermine our cause and would let down the movement to save the Sunderbans.
If you need help, please do contact us for connecting on how to organise in your own locality and how to express solidarity with the protesters back home. You can email us: phulbarisolidaritygroup@gmail.com and rabbani.enpolicy@gmail.com
Despite nationwide protests and international campaigns against the controversial coal power plant in Rampal, Bangladeshi government has approved India‘s NTPC proposed Rampal power plant which, if implemented, will destroy the world’s largest mangrove, the Sundarbans. Bangladeshi and Indian governments have signed a destructive deal in July, the month of International Mangrove Action, when the world is supposed to celebrate International Mangrove Day.
On 13 July, Bangladesh and India have signed an agreement which enables India’s state run Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. to implement the Rampal thermal power plant. The proposed plant would be built in 14 kilometres to the Sundarbans, a treasured ecosystem along Bangladesh’s coast.
It is outrageous that the governments of the two neighbouring states, Bangladesh and India, have disregarded the global calls and conspired to abandon people’s urge to prevent the construction of disparaging coal-power plant in Rampal from happening. They let Bangladesh’s only mangrove forest, Sundarbans, to be destroyed for self-interests. This deal has been signed at a time when Bangladesh has been undergoing political turmoil and religious genocide. The nation was focused on Gulshan attack when the two governments have approved the destructive deal.
The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Port-Power and Mineral Resources in Bangladesh (NCBD) will march to the Prime Minister’s Office this Thursday, 28th July, to protest against the deal.
In solidarity with the protesters in Bangladesh, the UK branch of NCBD will rally against the destructive deal at 6.30pm on the same day at Altab Ali Park in East London.
Please join us along with your friends and raise your voice against this destructive project. Our outcry can protect the world’s largest mangrove forest, the local environment in Bangladesh, its ecology and species. #SavetheSundarbans
#SavetheSundarbans Long March – Solidarity Meeting in Support of Nationwide march 10-13 March 2016
Friday, 11 March @6:30pm at Montefiore Centre, Whitechapel, London E1 5HZ
Despite huge protests and deep concerns of conscious citizens, Bangladesh government has given license to two greedy corporations who want to build a large coal fired-plant in Rampal, which is the close vicinity of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh’s mangrove forest, a UNESCO Heritage and a beautiful home to rare and wild animals including Bangladesh’s well-known Tigers. Sundarbans means “the beautiful forests,” and it lives up to its name in both benefits and productivity. It is not only beautiful but also extraordinarily rich in biodiversity and productivity.
The Sundarbans is the single largest mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans has also been a huge natural safeguard against frequent cyclone, storm and other natural disasters in the country. In every natural disaster, the Sundarbans saves lives of hundreds of thousands of people, while nurturing a rich coastal ecosystem. The Sundarbans is vital for all of us on this planet to help counter climate change.
But the proposed Rampal Coal Power Project will destroy the Sundarbans and coastal ecosystem. The project is a highly contested joint venture by the Indian state owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Orion, a corporation owned by Bangladesh state owned Power Development Board (PDB). It needs to stop now.
Bangladeshi environmentalists are marching from Dhaka to Rampal to #savetheSundarbans.
A three-day long-march to #SavetheSundarbans will be held on 10-13 March, when people will walk from different regions to meet in Rampal and demonstrate against the deception and mass destruction. Organised by the National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Port and Power, the main demand for this long march is to cancel ‘Rampal coal fired power plant’ and stop all activities that would destroy the Sundarbans.
In London, we are holding a solidarity meeting with the Bangladeshi marchers.
Join us with your friends to discuss ways to prevent mass destruction. Demand cancellation of the construction of the Rampal power plant.
11 months old Usha says NO to Coal Mine, GCM receives warning at AGM
By Raaj Manik
OFFICIAL NOTICE to GCM RESORUCES FROM PHULBARI PROTESTERS AND PEOPLE
Effective Immediately
Friday, 18 December 2015, at 10:30am|4 Hamilton Place | London W1J 7BQ
This is to notify the London-based company, Global Coal Management Resources Plc., formerly known as Asia Energy, is coming down. The company has been hotly resisted by locals for its fatal business policy for nine years. Three people were shot dead and two hundred injured by company-provoked shooting by paramilitary force in a demonstration of 80,000 people opposing plans by GCM in 2006.
The project has generated grave concern at national and international levels including the United Nations. Bangladesh government has cancelled the contract with the company. The government has repeatedly reassured protesters by official statements that Bangladesh does not want to build open pit mine in Phulbari. This year the UK government has published a statement highlighting the fierce opposition to GCM in Phulbari.
Due to its dodgy and unethical nature of business, the company was unable to register to London Stock Exchange. GCM is a member of London’s Alternative Investors Market. We note its business is dire. The company’s share price is falling every year. But the company is still pushing the government of Bangladesh for a fatal deal.
In the month of the climate summit #COP21, when climate protests erupted across the globe seeking climate justice, they announced AGM to discuss a noxious deal to implement a massive open-pit coal mine by forcibly displacing 130,000 families in Phulbari. If the mine is built, it would destroy 14,600 hectares of highly cultivable land and would pose threats to clean water resources. The project would leave devastating impact on the country’s only mangrove forest and a UNESCO heritage site, the Sundarbans.
We advise GCM to close dodgy business by this year’s AGM. The company must clear their London office with immediate. Failure to do so will result in high penalty.
CONSIDER THIS AS A FINAL NOTICE TO CLOSE YOUR FAKE BUSINESS!
Cliamte change protesters outside the AGM of GCM Resources demonstrate on Firday 18 December 2015
On Friday 18 December 2015, the above notice of closure was served to an AIM-listed British mining company by Bangladeshi community and transnational campaigners to save Phulbari and the green land in northwest Bangladesh. After a successful noise-demo outside the company’s Annual General Meeting, the founder of the Phulbari SolidarityGroup and an eye witness to the carnage in Phulbari on 26 August, 2006, Rumana Hashem has read out the Notice of Closure on behalf of all protesters.
The demo organised by Phulbari SOlidarity Group and the UK branch of Bangladesh National Committee was participated by community women and men, and transnational climate change activists.
Community women from Dinajpur and Phulbari joined the demo with their children as young as 11 months old. They chanted slogans, banged spoons and played noisy flute to disrupt the Mayfair AGM of Global Coal Management. They said that GCM has no place in Bangladesh.
Little Usha holds placard with his grand dad and mum from who came from Dinajpur to serve a notice of closure to GCM. Photo: Rumana Hashem
In the end of the demo the above notice of closure was served to GCM, which was handed into the board by their dissident shareholders who attended the AGM and questioned the company’s board about the social, economic and environmental impacts of the proposed Phulbari coal project. The dissident shareholders were greeted by other shareholders for raising important and timely questions. The board was clearly embarrassed when the Bangladeshi activists challenged the validity of the suspended contract with Bangladesh government.
Transnational advocates for climate change joined the demo with community activists. Indian anti-mining campaigner and the founder of Foil Vedanta, the activists from the London Mining Networks, leaders of the Socialist Party and the Tower Hamlet’s Trade Unionists and Socialist Coalition stood in full solidarity with the Phulbari activists and community environmentalists. Three representatives of the protesters walked into the AGM and questioned the chair of the company about illegal share business, and workers injuries in the shooting on 26 August in 2006.
Protesters took over the entrance to block the investors which led to an argument with the company security personnel who tried to protect the company executives. Photo: Rumana Hashem
Protesters said that this year’s AGM would be GCM’s last ever meeting in London. In a notice of closure, they denounced the company as a fraudulent corporation that does not have any valid contract with Bangladeshi government. The company does not hold any other valid business elsewhere in the globe but they are selling shares in London’s alternative investors’ market. The protesters called upon Michael Tang and Gary Lye to close GCM’s London office without delay. The protesters and the Bangladeshi community activists would lock the company’s head office at Piccadilly in June 2016, otherwise, they said.
A detailed report of the interrogation inside the AGM is here: GCM Withering and Wilting [http://londonminingnetwork.org/2015/12/gcm-withering-and-wilting/]
Action Demo in London to Save PHULBARI & Green-Farm Land
Friday, 18 December at 10:30am, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ (nearest tube station Hyde Park Corner)
In the month of the climate summit #COP21, when climate protests erupted across the globe seeking climate justice, a London-based AIM-listed multinational company, Global Coal Management Resources Plc. , announced its AGM to discuss a noxious deal to implement a massive open-pit coal mine by forcibly displacing 130,000 families of farmers in Phulbari. If the mine is built, it would destroy 14,600 hectares of highly cultivable land in northwest Bangladesh. It would also pose threats to clean water resources and would leave devastating impact on one of the world’s largest mangrove forests and UNESCO heritage site, the Sundarbans.
The mothers and wives of murdered villagers in Phulbari calling the investors of Asia Energy (now GCM) after the shooting on 27 August in 2006.
The company, previously known as Asia Energy, has been hotly resisted by locals for its fatal business policy. Three people were shot dead and two hundred injured in a demonstration of 80,000 people that took place in opposition to plans by GCM in 2006. Bangladesh government has cancelled all contracts with the company nine years ago. The government has recently reassured protestors by a statement that it does not want to build an open pit mine in Phulbari. The project has generated grave concern at national and international levels including the United Nations. This year the UK government has published a statement highlighting the fierce opposition to GCM in Phulbari. But the company has so far ignored every message. It has been pushing the government of Bangladesh for a fatal deal. We advise GCM to close business NOW!
JOIN US inside and outside the AGM! We will warn them to close AGM forever!
Please Bring along your banner, placards, festoons, whistles, drums, masks and messages against dirty coal miners. We will declare a notice of closure to GCM and we’ll celebrate the news that Bangladesh government has reassured there is no plan to open pit mine.
Pupils at Oxford’s Rose Hill Primary School painted banner against open cast mine to express solidarity with Phulbari people . 18 June 2015. Photo: Andy Edwards
The UK government has published a statement yesterday that highlights the fierce opposition to British company GCM Resources’ plans for a massive open cast coal mine in Phulbari, north-west Bangladesh. The statement notes that protestors are “calling strikes, blockading roads and occupying the company’s local offices”.
The statement by the UK National Contact Point also expresses “regret” that the company had failed to update its plans or produce a human rights impact assessment for the project, as recommended in the findings of its investigation under the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises in November 2014.
The AIM-listed British corporation GCM Resources Plc.’s planned coal mine in Phulbari has provoked repeated protests by local people and communities for nearly a decade. Three people were killed and more than 200 were injured when paramilitary officers opened fire on a demonstration against the project in 2006. Even so, powerful protests by resilient communities in 2013 and 2014 forced the company’s notorious CEO, Gary Lye, to abandon visits to the area.
Campaigners in Bangladesh are clear that any moves by the company to enter Phulbari would provoke further protests.
The UK government’s investigation has followed a complaint submitted by the Global Justice Now and International Accountability Project in 2012. It has condemned the company for breaching international guidelines on ethical corporate behaviour, stating that the project “has aroused considerable opposition in Bangladesh, leading to violent protests, and an even more violent response by the authorities there”.
Yesterday’s statement also notes recent statements from ministers and officials at the Bangladesh Government’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Division that GCM does not have a valid contract with the Government of Bangladesh, and that the Government of Bangladesh has no intention for open cast coal extraction to take place in the region, which includes some of the country’s best agricultural land. These statements follow demands made by protesters against the project that the Bangladesh government should ban open cast mining and remove GCM from the country.
Christine Haigh, campaigner at the Global Justice Now, said:
Today’s statement is further evidence that the Phulbari coal mine cannot go ahead. If it does, it will be a human rights disaster. Local people have repeatedly made it clear that they don’t want it and any moves by GCM to move this project forward will be met by further resistance.”
She added: While GCM are claiming this report vindicates them, in reality it does anything but. The main problem is the inability of the British government to enforce human rights standards on companies like GCM, leaving people affected by British companies around the world with no right to legal redress for the injustices they face. This must change.
Rumana Hashem, the founder of Phulbari Solidarity Group and an eye witness to the 2006 shooting in Phulbari, stated:
It is good that the UK government has eventually recognised that GCM has failed to develop appropriate communication with the communities in Phulbari. It was a mistake for the NCP to take this long to understand the power of people. They have previously undermined the powerful opposition that exists and that has made possible a halt to the detrimental project of the British company.
Rumana added: I have seen how resilient the movement is in Phulbari. Bangladesh government has expressed solidarity with the community’s view and said ‘no to GCM’. GCM must forget this project. It is reassuring that UK government has recognised that local people will not give in. They will fight for their land until last breath.
The mine would force up to 220,000 people from their land, destroying their homes and livelihoods, and would threaten the Sundarbans – one of the world’s largest remaining mangrove forests and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The UK government states that GCM must take into account the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which stipulates that no developments can take place on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘free, prior and informed consent’. Bangladesh’s National Indigenous Union says the mine would displace or impoverish 50,000 indigenous people from 23 villages
Seven UN human rights experts have called for an immediate halt to the project, citing threats to fundamental human rights, including the rights to water, food, adequate housing, freedom from extreme poverty and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Phulbari Solidarity Blog 
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