The Dawei Democracy Movement Strike Committee told DVB that there will be environmental damage caused to natural habitat surrounding the Tanintharyi Region capital by the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), if the agreement between Moscow and the regime in Naypyidaw moves forward.
“It is definitely harmful to the environment. There is no precise legal protection and civilian rights groups won’t have any chances to point this out due to the current political crisis,” Min Lwin Oo, the group’s spokesperson, told DVB.
Russia’s Minister for Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and regime Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Kan Zaw signed an agreement on the construction of a port, an oil refinery, and coal-fired thermal power plant, in the Dawei SEZ on Feb. 22.
The Dawei SEZ is a 76-square-mile (196-square-km) project along the Andaman Sea coastline, in the Tanintharyi Region capital. Dawei residents told DVB that they are concerned about land confiscation and degradation once this new phase of the SEZ project starts.
“We have no rights to defend ourselves if the military threatens us with their guns and confiscates the land,” a Dawei resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Regime media only reported on the signing of the Dawei SEZ agreement with Russia on Feb. 23, adding that a total of nine agreements have been signed between Moscow and Naypyidaw, which reportedly includes trade, infrastructure, banking, education, communications, and technology.
The Blood Money Campaign, a coalition of anti-2021 military coup activists in Myanmar, told DVB that it is difficult for Russia to make investments in Myanmar due to the ongoing political crisis since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
“The military regime does not fully control this territory,” said a member of the Blood Money Campaign on the condition of anonymity.
In 2008, a previous Myanmar military regime signed a contract with an Italian-Thai company based in Thailand called Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited to begin the Dawei SEZ project.
The Myanmar Port Authority, under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, announced in 2013 that then-President Thein Sein had suspended the contract.
Partial operations continued at the Dawei SEZ until January 2021. The regime, which seized power after the 2021 military coup, is trying to revive it with the help of its allies in Moscow.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, the Dawei SEZ will host zones for high-tech industrial, transportation, information technology and export processing.
“Oil refining is still the most complex element and there was no final decision on construction of a refinery,” stated Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s Minister for Economic Development.
Fighting between resistance and regime forces occurs frequently around the Dawei SEZ. Many residents fled their homes due to a military offensive against resistance forces in October 2023.
The Karen National Union (KNU), the Kawthoolei Army (KTLA), the People’s Defense Force (PDF) under the National Unity Government (NUG), and other local resistance groups operate in Tanintharyi Region.
