(July 10, 2000) Big infrastructure projects like dams push about 10 million people a year out of their homes, according to the World Bank, and alarm bells have been ringing about a huge new project on Myanmar’s border with Thailand. At the end of last year, Myanmar’s military junta signed a deal with the Thai government to build several dams on the Salween river in Shan and Karen states. Reports say 22,000 people are likely to lose their homes when a reservoir the size of Singapore is created, submerging historical cities and destroying livelihoods. This massive hydropower project aims to export electricity to Thailand and other Asian countries. Although work has hardly begun, news is already filtering through that local people are being displaced. In late March, the Shan Herald news agency reported that more than 500 Karen villagers … had fled to the border after being forced by the military to build a road for one of the dam projects. Unable to cross into Thailand, they were forced to hide in the jungle. There are reports that the military junta has stationed hundreds of soldiers around the dam site. … Read the full story.

Reuters AlertNet, July 10, 2000