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As of 2014, Myanmar’s lucrative jade industry is estimated to be worth some $31 billion, according to the AP. In a statement after the incident, Global Witness, a worldwide watchdog dedicated to improving human rights, called Thursday's situation a "preventable tragedy," calling for "rigorous reforms of the jade sector."
The region's government, according to the Times, ordered that the mines remain closed between July 1 and Sept. 30 due to heavy rains. The miners on location Thursday were freelance workers filling in regardless of the dangers.
“The government ordered them to stop because it is dangerous to work here in the rainy season,” U Tin Soe, the region’s representative in Parliament, told the Times. “But after the mining companies stopped, an illegal ethnic armed group took money from the illegal miners and gave them permission to work here.”
Tin Soe added: “If people continue working, there will surely be more landslides and death. But there is no rule of law in this area — that’s why it’s difficult to control.”
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