查看配图AngloGold Ashanti's Siguiri open-pit mine in Guinea. Credit: AngloGold Ashanti.
Ten people have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in Guinea’s northeastern gold-producing region of Siguiri, the government said, as a crackdown on illegal and unregulated gold mining triggers mass expulsions and a growing humanitarian crisis in neighbouring countries.
The violence erupted Wednesday at Balato when defence and security forces attempted to enforce a Nov. 2 ban on illegal and unregulated gold mining. Protesters erected barricades on public roads before the confrontation escalated into an exchange of gunfire, Guinea’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization said in a statement dated Thursday.
Five foreign nationals were among those killed, while 13 people, including civilians and security personnel, were injured, according to provisional government figures. Authorities did not disclose the nationalities of the foreign victims. Judicial authorities have been asked to establish the circumstances and determine responsibility.
The unrest highlights the growing economic and humanitarian fallout from Guinea’s efforts to curb illegal gold production in a region where artisanal mining provides livelihoods for thousands of workers and their families. Mali has warned of a humanitarian emergency, while Burkina Faso has criticized the treatment of its citizens during the expulsions.
Mass displacement
Guinea imposed the ban after authorities blamed unregulated mining operations for extensive environmental damage, including the destruction of farmland and forests and the pollution of rivers.
Security forces have arrested more than 1,300 people in the crackdown, according to a statement Thursday from prosecutors reported by Guinee7. Trials opened this week in Conakry, and some defendants have already received prison sentences.
The enforcement campaign has driven tens of thousands of miners and their families across the border into Mali, where authorities have warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe.
About 100,000 displaced people have arrived in Mali’s capital, Bamako, while nearly 60,000 others have gathered in the border town of Kouremale, according to figures released by Malian authorities on Nov. 7.
Ten deaths linked to the displacement crisis have been recorded in Mali, Agence France-Presse reported Friday, separate from the fatalities reported in Guinea.
Burkina Faso, meanwhile, had received and registered 45,406 returnees as of Thursday, according to its National Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Council. Officials in Ouagadougou have complained that their nationals were subjected to inhumane treatment during the expulsions.
Security fears
The influx of displaced miners has raised concerns that armed extremist groups operating across the Sahel could exploit the growing humanitarian emergency to recruit vulnerable migrants.
“These people are vulnerable. We are looking at ways to prevent them from being approached by terrorist networks,” a Malian security ministry official told Agence France-Presse.
Guinea, the world’s largest bauxite producer, also hosts industrial gold mines, including AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU) Siguiri operation. The company owns 85% of the mine, while Guinea’s government holds the remaining 15%.