…As Cyprus waylaying 37 Refugees and migrants attempting to reach EU ***
At least 54 jade miners are feared to have died after they
were buried in mud while sleeping in northern Myanmar.
Police said the landslide in Kachin state was so great it
created a “mud lake” that engulfed the workers’ living quarters along
with some 40 vehicles.
Landslides caused by jade mining, an industry with few
regulations, kill dozens in Myanmar every year.
A local official said it was “very difficult to
retrieve the bodies” and only three had been recovered.
“They won’t survive,” Tin Soe, a local lawmaker,
said. “It’s not possible because they are buried under mud.”
The ministry of information identified the companies
involved in the accident as Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung and Myanmar Thura Gems.
Neither has yet commented, although the director of Myanmar
Thura Gems, Hla Soe Oo, told AFP news agency he was on his way to the site.
The search and rescue effort is ongoing, officials said.
The jade industry in the northern state of Kachin, which
borders India and China, was estimated to be worth about $31bn (£24bn) in 2014.
Victims of landslides and other accidents are often members
of poor ethnic communities searching for remaining gems left behind by the big
firms.
In addition to jade, Myanmar has a wealth of natural resources
including timber, gold and amber, all of which help finance both sides of a
civil war between ethnic Kachin rebels and the military.
Meanwhile, Cypriot authorities on Tuesday said they
stopped 37 migrants trying to cross the border from the Northern Turkish part
of the island.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974.
The entire island is a part of the European Union; however
EU laws apply only in the predominantly Greek South.
The self-proclaimed north has been recognised only by
Turkey.
The island-state, located some 170 kilometres off the
Lebanese and 70km off the Turkish coast, has become a new entry point for
people trying to reach the EU.
Smugglers reportedly charge 2,000 Euros (2,250 dollars) per
person for the ride.
Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades already sought
assistance from the EU for care of some 10,000 refugees and migrants whose
status is yet to be clarified.
Under an EU-Turkey agreement from 2016, people arriving
across the Aegean are being checked in reception centres on Greek islands.
Cyprus is not a part of the deal and the refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia to the west of Nicosia is overcrowded.
Additional report from BBC
