BALOCHISTAN IS A COUNTRY

Balochistan: Abused by Pakistan, looted by China

On 25 August, 39 people were killed when a Baloch outfit attacked police stations, railway lines and highways in a co-ordinated manner. 34 more were killed in retaliation by the Pakistani security forces.The 34 included Pakistani soldiers and police personnel and attackers. This happened in Pakistan’s south-western province of Balochistan.

The attacks continued through the night and into the next day. They were by far the most violent killings carried out in recent years by ethnic Baloch separatists, as the Pakistani State calls them. An armed group, called the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the killings, code named “Haruf”, meaning dark, windy storm.

That is the story so far. But that is far from the whole story. The Baloch have been systematically, clinically and brazenly exploited and discriminated against. Tortured by Pakistan’s “Punjabi” Army. Looted by China’s Communists. And hated by Iran’s clerics. Balochistan has become a land where anti-Punjabi, anti-Pakistan and anti-China sentiments converge.

Allegations are flying thick and fast. Pakistan claims that all the dead were civilians. But the B.L.A. says they were all Pakistani security personnel dressed in civilian clothes. Whether they were civilians or not is a moot point. But what is not disputed is that almost all the people who were killed were Punjabis — the name given to the people who hail from the Pakistani province of Punjab.
 
Some more things stand out. One, the timing of the attacks. And, two, the involvement of woman suicide-bombers. The attacks coincided with the death anniversary of a Baloch leader, Akbar Bugti. Bugti was killed by Pakistan’s security forces in 2006 when Gen. Pervez Musharraf was in power. Bugti’s killing fuelled the fifth and fiercest round of insurgency in Balochistan. And it continues to this day. The four previous insurgencies took place in 1948, 1958, 1968 and 1973.

The attacks also coincided with a visit to Pakistan by Gen. Li Qiaoming, the Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces. The Chinese General called on Pakistan’s President and Prime Minister and also held talks with Pakistan’s Army chief Gen. Asim Munir.  Pakistan conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, one of its top honours, on the Chinese General.

The B.L.A. says a woman from the southern, port district of Gwadar was involved in a suicide-attack on a para-military base in Bela. The chief minister of Balochistan province is reported to have said that three people had been killed at the base.

The Punjabi Connection

The Baloch-versus-Punjabi ethnic fault line is a story that threatens to snowball into a wider conflict -– one that could have disastrous consequences for Pakistan. The Punjabis are the largest of the six, main, ethnic groups in Pakistan. They dominate the military and other arms of the Pakistani State.

The real estate in Balochistan is exploited by the rich, landed gentry from Lahore and other cities in the Punjab province. Simply put, the Punjabis are well-entrenched in Pakistani society. And, that is why the Baloch complain that their land has become a colony of the Punjabi elite.

Mehran Marri is a Baloch activist. He lives in the U.K. Marri voices a similar sentiment in an interview to a private Indian news agency, ANI. He says: “We, the Baloch, live a life of indignity and humiliation every day, at the hands of the Punjabis.” Marri says that Pakistan’s Punjabi elite supports Chinese activity in Balochistan.

He bets that Beijing will have to stop the China -– Pakistan Economic Corridor sooner rather than later because the project does more harm than good to the locals. “It’s like setting up a chocolate factory in Gaza and expecting it to work amidst war and terror,” he says.

The Baloch have other grievances, too. For one, Balochistan lags the rest of Pakistan insofar as education, employment and economic development are concerned. Baloch separatist groups, such as the B.L.A., say that they’ve been fighting for decades for a larger share in the regional wealth of mines and minerals denied by the Pakistani Government.

Then, there is the issue of enforced disappearances. The Counter Terrorist Department of the Government is accused of carrying out abductions and arbitrary killings. Locals say that the Department is notorious for its so-called death squads. They claim, that what is happening to them is a genocide under the guise of targeted killings.

A quick word about Balochistan and the Baloch people. People of Baloch ethnicity are present in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. They are Sunni Muslims. The Baloch society is organised along tribal lines. The Marri, Mengal and Bugti are the more prominent tribes. Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan.

It has a long, Arabian Sea coastline in the south, not far from the oil shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz. Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan. It forms about 45 per cent of Pakistan’s total area. It is the richest province in terms of mineral wealth.

But, it is the least developed of the four provinces of Pakistan. And, it has the lowest per capita income in the country. The irony is that Balochistan contributes heavily to Pakistan’s G.D.P. but does not get a fair share of revenue. The province is home to key mining projects.

The Reko Diq Mine is famous for its gold and copper reserves. It is believed to have the world’s fifth-largest gold deposit. A Canada-based company called Barrick Gold operates the Reko Diq mine. Sui in Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest gas field but the gas it produces benefits the Punjab province.

Besides their dislike for the Punjabis, the Baloch have an animus towards China. Balochistan is home to major China-led projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine. China has invested 65 billion dollars in the China -– Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through Balochistan and terminates at the Gwadar port. The Chinese have also monopolised fishing in the area.

Baloch groups have attacked Chinese interests and citizens in the province, and, elsewhere, in Pakistan. For instance, on 26 March 2024, a suicide-bomber killed at least five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A B.L.A. fighter says that China entered Balochistan without the consent of the Baloch people and that the Chinese projects will fail miserably.

Besides China, there’s another country that makes the Baloch anxious — Iran. The Baloch are present in large numbers in an Iranian province called Sistan and Baluchestan. It suffers from neglect, too, much like the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

The ethnic Baloch population of Iran feels discriminated against by the majority Shia population. Iran fears that the Baloch are supported by elements in Pakistan. The Jaish ul-Adl, meaning Army of Justice, is a Baloch group active in the area.

What about the West?

The West has taken a particular stance on the issue. The U.S. State Department does not comment on the continued repression and persecution of the Baloch but its Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs posts a message on X. It reads: “The United States strongly condemns the multiple attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province which took many lives.

Any violence disrupting peace and stability is indefensible. We stand with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism and we send our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones.” The U.S. has designated the Baloch Liberation Army as a terror group.

This lack of support or understanding does not deter the Baloch. They remain optimistic. Dawn newspaper of Pakistan quotes the late Baloch leader Akbar Bugti’s son Jamil as saying that he sees his father’s mission advancing, what with the daughters of Balochistan now stepping forward to strengthen their movement. And Mahrang Baloch is a good example of just that. 31 years old. Medical doctor. And, the face of Baloch struggle.

Mahrang Baloch heads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee. It is a human rights movement that was set up in 2020. Yakjehti means unity, or, solidarity. In July 2024, the B.Y.C. organised a national gathering called the Baloch Raji Muchi in Gwadar.

In December 2023, it organised a Baloch Long March, a 1,600-kilometre-long peaceful protest, from Turbat in Balochistan to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, to demand justice for the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Baloch people.

400 Baloch protesters, half of them women and children, held a month-long sit-in outside the National Press Club of Islamabad, to demand justice for their missing and murdered family members.

Clearly, the Baloch seem to have had enough. They are in no mood to put up with mistreatment and humiliation any longer. “If the Baloch fight, they are called a terrorist. If the Baloch cry, they are called a coward. If the Baloch ask for something, they are called a beggar. Where do the Baloch go? What do they do?” asks Mehran Marri.

All of which raises certain questions to ponder.
— Where does the Baloch agitation go from here?
— Will the Baloch unrest gain enough critical mass to challenge the Pakistani State?
— Can the U.S. jettison Pakistan?
— Is Pakistan too big to fail, as some in China would like to believe?
— Will the West change its attitude towards the Baloch cause?
— How should India view developments in Balochistan?
— And, what if Pakistan implodes under the weight of its contradictions?

Asking questions is the easy part. Finding the answers will be much more difficult. I leave you with Marri’s parting shot.

“We have our dignity as well. We have our self-respect. Whether anyone supports us or not. The Baloch will stand up for themselves.”

Now, that is another point to ponder, isn’t it?

By – Ramesh Ramachandran (Senior Consulting Editor and presenter with D.D. India)

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BALOCH 

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 AU CONTRAIRE 

Explainer: Why Africans won't buy the "Debt Trap" narrative against China

By Wang Zongnan, Zhao Zhiqin (Xinhua) 11:14, September 02, 2024

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- "Debt-trap" is a term to describe an international financial relationship where a creditor country or institution extends debt to a borrowing nation with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions when the debtor country becomes unable to meet its repayment obligations.

Western media have pinned the "Debt Trap" narrative on China since an Indian think tank coined the term in 2017.

For instance, in an Associated Press article last year, reporter Bernard Condon alleged that China's "debt trap" has pushed some developing countries, for example Kenya and Zambia, to the brink of collapse. He claims the debt is largely owed to China, with high interest that is hard to repay and little willingness from China to forgive it.

However, what are the facts? Who is Africa's number one creditor? Who is the one using a "debt trap" to plunder the wealth of developing countries, and who is offering a real helping hand? The vast majority of developing countries, especially African countries, know the truth.

FALSE NARRATIVE

Many academics, professionals and think tanks have asserted that China's lending practices are not behind the debt troubles faced by borrowing nations, and that Chinese banks have been willing to restructure the terms of existing loans.

"Only about nine percent of Kenya's public debt can be attributed to China at the moment," Adhere Cavince, an international relations specialist from Kenya, told Xinhua.

The National Treasury of Kenya's debt bulletin, published in April 2024, reported that more than half (51.5 percent) of the country's external debt is owed to multilateral lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In contrast, China and other bilateral lenders account for only a fifth (21.5 percent) of Kenya's bilateral debt.

A briefing paper titled "Integrating China into Multilateral Debt Relief: Progress and Problems in the G20 DSSI," published by Johns Hopkins University, found that among the 46 countries participating in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) launched by the World Bank and the IMF, Chinese creditors accounted for 30 percent of all claims and contributed to 63 percent of debt service suspensions.

In contrast to the unfulfilled promises of debt relief by the Western world, "China has been far more generous in providing relief to allow for African countries to manage their post-COVID recovery," said Charles Onunaiju, director of the center for China studies in Nigeria.

"China's approach to debt relief has been more flexible, often involving the restructuring of loans to provide breathing space for debtor countries," said Humphrey Moshi, director of the center for Chinese studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. "In contrast, other creditors have been more rigid, prioritizing their financial returns over the economic recovery of African nations."

"The 'Debt Trap' narrative aims to discredit China's growing influence in Africa and to maintain Western dominance," Moshi said.

"It is neither in the interest of emerging economies nor that of China," Cavince said. "That is why, despite the hype, no African country is taking it seriously."

CHINA OFFERS HELPING HAND, NOT HANDOUTS

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the value of China's infrastructure projects, which have improved connectivity, lowered logistics costs, and provided essential healthcare facilities, said Moshi, describing China's investment in infrastructure as "groundwork for long-term sustainable development in Africa."

"Investments in education and vocational training have also empowered local populations by enhancing skills and employability, leading to sustainable economic opportunities," he added.

China, in fact, is helping developing countries to learn how to help themselves.

In Guinea-Bissau, "sometimes people walk several kilometers to find a water point," says Diamantino Lopes, a professor at Lusofona University of Guinea-Bissau. He highlighted China's support in financing boreholes and water distribution projects, which has significantly improved living conditions and public health.

China has increased its investment in Africa's energy sector tenfold in the last decade, said analyst Robert Bociaga in an article published by Nikkei Asia. What's more, these Chinese investments in energy may "potentially contribute to the energy independency of many African countries," said a study titled "The Impact of Chinese Investment on Energy Independence in Africa," published in Energy Policy this July.

"Many African countries are now looking to China to access solar panels to power villages across the continent," said Cavince, noting that Chinese products are "affordable, durable and accessible."

Cavince also emphasized China's willingness to invest in high-risk areas of Africa, a crucial factor in today's risk-prone world. China helps these regions weather the storms and build resilience in the post-pandemic era.

"In Tanzania, many infrastructure projects by other countries were halted, but Chinese-built ones continued," Moshi said, referring to the Magufuli Bridge, which has significantly reduced travel time across Lake Victoria and transformed daily life for thousands. It is "highly anticipated by residents," Moshi added.

The Magufuli Bridge is just another example of what some call a "Debt Trap," but Moshi argues otherwise. He emphasized that "China's investment is helping to build resilient communities that can withstand future economic and social challenges."

The true wealth generated by China's efforts is steadily having an impact on African countries, with more projects planned.

WEST FACES BACKLASH IN AFRICA

Moshi weighed in on the "Debt Trap" narrative, pointing out an often-overlooked African perspective: "People forget that African countries enter these agreements fully aware of the terms."

This is borne out by the facts.

"The United States and its Western allies are facing a backlash in African countries," Cavince said. "U.S. military bases are being uprooted in Africa, and unyielding American interference in the internal affairs of African countries is no longer tenable."

"The interest rates from Western lenders are higher... Countries have been stuck paying the interest, and the principal remains unpaid for a long time. What does that represent? It represents the rate of exploitation," said Chibeza Mfuni, deputy secretary general of the Zambia-China Friendship Association.

"Western aid often comes with many conditions, including austerity measures, privatization, and 'democracy promotion'," Cavince said. "This often causes civil strife."

In June, Kenya experienced mass protests and fatalities after proposed tax hikes tied to an IMF funding program. The now-defunct 2024 Finance Bill, backed by the IMF, was described by The Guardian as "the most extreme form of austerity in Kenya's history." During the protests, one placard read, "IMF, World Bank, Stop the Modern Day Slavery," as reported by Al Jazeera.

China, on the other hand, has been offering African countries funds with no political strings attached, Cavince said.

As a fellow Global South nation, China shares perspectives with African countries.

Cavince noted that China's aid responds to recipient countries' requests, unlike Western aid measures, "which often have already set areas where poor countries must request support."

Explainer: Why it is absurd to accuse China of practising "neocolonialism" in Africa

By Chen Wangqi (Xinhua) 14:18, September 02, 2024

BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- As cooperation between China and African countries deepens and their ties grow closer, some Western nations have been hyping up the notion of "neocolonialism" regarding China's increasing presence on the continent.

By accusing China of fostering African dependence through massive investments and prioritizing Chinese interests over local needs, the West is seeking to sow discord in China-Africa relations and undermine their cooperation, all in an effort to protect the vested interests of a few Western countries in Africa, experts have said.

This raises important questions: Is China's cooperation with Africa truly neocolonialism? How does the China-Africa relationship differ from the West's ties with Africa? And why is the West so committed to advancing the narrative of Chinese neocolonialism?

EMPOWERMENT INSTEAD OF EXPLOITATION

Improved transportation networks, better access to healthcare, increased employment opportunities ... the benefits of Chinese investments are tangible to many Africans in their daily lives, said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

"The infrastructure projects funded by Chinese loans and investments have been transformative," Moshi told Xinhua, noting that China has expanded access to opportunities and resources across Africa.

He pointed out that China-built roads, railways, and ports have slashed transportation costs and opened up isolated regions to national and international markets, helping Africa to trade itself out of poverty while facilitating industrialization.

These infrastructure projects have also created thousands of jobs for local communities, not only during construction but also in the long-term operation and maintenance of these facilities, Moshi said.

Charles Onunaiju, director of the Center for China Studies in Nigeria, said that the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation alone has trained hundreds of young local people in critical sectors such as railway engineering and other technical fields.

Africans are working as senior- and mid-level employees, he added, noting that these are very crucial additions in building capacity in Africa, a critical challenge for the continent.

Meanwhile, Chinese investments in constructing hospitals and schools, coupled with the provision of medical equipment and educational materials, have improved access to essential services and overall well-being, laying "the groundwork for sustainable economic and social progress," Moshi said.

However, at the same time, frequent U.S. sanctions on African countries cost poor workers in developing countries, usually women, their jobs when factories are shut down because they can no longer access the U.S. market, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) noted.

"Are those workers exploited? Unquestionably yes," the CSIS said.

Unlike the West, both China and Africa were victims of Western colonization and can thus easily understand each other's plight, said Adhere Cavince, a Kenya-based international relations scholar.

Onunaiju said China seeks to be an active partner amid global challenges due to its broad outlook on shared global prosperity. "The condition for neo-colonialism does not exist in China's political system."

CUSTOMIZATION INSTEAD OF CONTROL

"Western countries often prioritize the promotion of their values and systems" while China's aid is often tailored to the needs of the recipient countries, Moshi told Xinhua.

China's aid targets areas where Africa lags behind the rest of the world, including infrastructure development, trade facilitation, and investments aimed at long-term economic growth, he said.

Similarly, Cavince noted that China mainly helps to construct infrastructure and alleviate poverty through agriculture projects and energy grids.

As Africa's largest partner in the green energy transition, China provides African consumers with "affordable, durable and accessible" green products, without imposing conditions, he said.

In contrast, Western aid is often tied to political and economic conditions such as austerity measures, privatization, and "democracy promotion," which often cause civil strife, Cavince further said.

The CSIS pointed out that "in other words, the West is still trying to civilize the former colonies by getting them to do things we (Western countries) think are good for them."

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni also slammed in August 2023 that many of the loans and aid packages from Western countries "are either of no value addition to the country or are even anti-growth, all together" in a speech following the World Bank's decision to halt financing to Uganda.

Loans and aid packages from the West had brought a lot of distortion and stunted Uganda's growth as well as the entire continent, said Museveni, blaming Africa's "miserable" economic performance on the Western world, which looked at Africa only as producers of raw materials.

"The history of Western aid in Africa has played absolutely no role in lifting Africa (out of poverty)," said Onunaiju. "That is why ... we do not want Western aid anymore."

"We want more investment. We want more trade," he said.

SHIFTING PUBLIC OPINION

China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for a 15th consecutive year, with a trade volume of 282.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a joint report by the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other authorities revealed on Thursday.

As of the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in Africa had exceeded 40 billion dollars, said an official with the NDRC, adding that China-Africa trade and investment is expected to maintain steady growth this year, demonstrating the strong vitality and resilience of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

China's growing engagement with Africa unsettles some nations in the West. They hence use narratives like "neocolonialism" and "debt trap" as geopolitical tools to smear China and weaken the effectiveness of its development partnerships with developing countries, Cavince said, adding that such hype is not in the interest of emerging economies.

China's contributions to infrastructure development, healthcare, and education in African countries are visible and tangible in the daily lives of local people. These contributions significantly boost the growing approval of China across the continent, noted Moshi.

In addition, China's approach to aid and investment, which emphasizes respect for the sovereignty of African nations, is appreciated by many Africans, he said.

On the contrary, the U.S. promotion of its ideology and strategic interests, and the lack of consistent engagement with or tangible benefits for Africa all led to the decline in African approval of the United States, the expert concluded.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)

GREAT RUSSIAN CHAUVINISM & RACISM

Tajik Families 'Shocked' Their Relatives Were Involved In Deadly Hostage-Taking At Russian Prison

NOT WHAT HAPPENED, SCAPEGOATS

September 02, 2024 

By Alisher Zarifi and
Amir Isoev

Navruz Rustamjon, one of the suspects in the hostage-taking in the Volgograd prison

DUSHANBE -- Rustamjon Davlatov is mourning the death of his son, Navruz, but his grief is mixed with the “shock and disbelief” that the 23-year-old was listed as being involved in a deadly hostage-taking at a Russian prison last week.

“We are faraway here. He was inside the four walls of [the prison]. I don’t know what went on there,” Davlatov said, fighting back tears. “What can we possibly do?”

Unverified images posted on various Russian websites depict knife-brandishing men who identify themselves as Islamic State (IS) militants and claim to have taken control of the Surovikino Prison in the southwestern Volgograd region on August 23.

Four prison guards were stabbed to death and several other were wounded in the incident, officials say.

Russian authorities have not publicly disclosed the names of the hostage-takers, all of whom were killed by special forces, according to police.

But the state news agency TASS identified Davlatov’s son, Navruz Rustamjon, and a fellow Tajik inmate Nazirjon Toshov, 28, as well as Uzbek nationals Ramzidin Toshev and Temur Khusinov as the perpetrators.

Three of the men, including the two Tajiks, were serving prison terms on drug-trafficking charges. The fourth man was convicted of manslaughter.

Davlatov, who lives in a modest one-story house in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, says he spoke to his son three days before the hostage crisis. He insists it was an ordinary conversation, with the two discussing the son’s dreams for his life after prison.

“He told me he wanted to return home and get married and study at the university. He asked me to find a bride for him,” Davlatov told RFE/RL. “He had plans and dreams for the future, but they’re all destroyed now.”

Rustamjon, the youngest of seven siblings, had an ordinary upbringing in a family of modest means and “did well at school and treated everyone with respect,” said Davlatov, a retired theater performer who now works at a state catering service.

Rustamjon Davlatov, the father of one of the suspects in the hostage-taking at the Volgograd prison

Russian officials allegedly tried to recruit Rustamjon to fight in the war in Ukraine, but “we always told him not to accept it despite all the hardships in prison,” the father said.

Rustamjon went to Russia when he was just 18 to work and send money to his family, according to Davlatov. He worked at a car wash and a warehouse before being sentenced to seven years in prison in 2022.

In a graphic video that purportedly shows part of the hostage-taking, one of the self-proclaimed militants points to the bloodied bodies of several men in uniform and says the prison guards were murdered for persecuting Muslims.

"We killed those who humiliated and tortured Muslims. They took away books from some of us, prayer rugs from some of us," the man in the video claims.

Another man wearing blood-soaked gloves holds what seems to be a black IS flag. He was identified by Russian media as Rustamjon. But his father says Rustamjon “did not pray and was not religious at all.”

'We Were No Longer In Touch'

In Nazirjon Toshov’s hometown of Tursunzoda, some 60 kilometers west of Dushanbe, relatives are reluctant to talk about him.

Toshov’s mother is dead and his father left the city several years ago. Toshov’s former wife moved to Russia after their divorce in 2021, taking the couple’s young daughter with her, according to his former in-laws.

Mehri Saidova, the grandmother of Toshov’s ex-wife, said that she hasn’t seen the images purportedly showing him during the hostage-taking.

“I heard about it from my daughter,” she told RFE/RL. “We didn’t know things would end like this.”

Saidova said she was questioned by Tajik authorities after the news of the hostage drama in Russia broke. But the grandmother insists she doesn’t know much about Toshov’s life in recent years as they “were no longer in touch.”

Officials in Tursunzoda declined to comment to RFE/RL.

Nazirjon Toshov was raised in the town of Tursunzoda.

The government in Dushanbe said in a statement on August 23 they were working with Russian authorities to “identify and apprehend other members of the terrorist organization that carried out this crime.”

But the statement did not mention any involvement of Tajik nationals in the deadly incident.

The hostage crisis comes five months after 10 Tajik citizens were arrested in connection with a terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow that killed 145 people.

The massacre, claimed by IS, led to a rise in xenophobic attacks on Tajiks and other Central Asian migrant workers in Russia. Thousands of Tajik nationals were either deported or denied entry to Russia. Others returned home due to threats or bad treatment from locals.

Migrants fear that the latest hostage-taking in Volgograd will further exacerbate the already difficult situation for millions of Central Asian workers in Russia.
Written by Farangis Najibullah in Prague based on reporting in Tajikistan by Alisher Zarifi and Amir Isoev

Migrant farm worker deaths show cost of the 'American Dream'

Brandon Drenon and Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News
Getty Images
Many agricultural farm workers in the US are immigrants


Last year, Hugo watched a friend die in a vast field of sweet potatoes, his lifeless body leaning against a truck tyre – one of few shaded areas on the sweltering North Carolina farm.

“They forced him to work,” Hugo recalled. “He kept telling them he was feeling bad, that he was dying.”

“An hour later, he passed out.”

Hugo, which is not his real name, has spent most of his time in the US as a migrant farm worker, a job where the pay generally hovers at or below minimum wage, and where work conditions can be fatal. The BBC agreed to use a pseudonym because he expressed concern he could face repercussions for speaking out about the incident.

Hugo departed Mexico in 2019 with a visa to work in the US, leaving behind a wife and two children to pursue the “American Dream”, unsure of when he would return. Or if.

His friend who died on the sweet potato farm was Jose Arturo Gonzalez Mendoza.

It was Mendoza’s first trip to the US for work. He died within his first few weeks on the farm in September 2023. Mendoza, 29, had also left his wife and children in Mexico.

“We come here out of need. That’s what makes us come to work. And you leave behind what you most wished for, a family,” Hugo says.

From farmers and meatpackers to line cooks and construction workers, migrants often do dangerous jobs where workplace deaths typically go unnoticed by the wider public. But in the past year, the issue has been thrust into the spotlight, by multiple high-profile deaths and by a migrant crisis at the border that has amplified anti-immigrant rhetoric.



The day Mendoza died, the heat was intense.

Temperatures hovered around 32C (90F). There was not enough drinking water for workers and the farm only allowed one five-minute break during hours-long shifts.

The one place to escape the heat was a bus without air conditioning parked in an open field.

The details are outlined in a report by the North Carolina Department of Labor, which fined the farm - Barnes Farming Corporation - this year for its “hazardous” conditions.

The report confirmed the death on the farm and mentioned that management "never” called healthcare services or provided first-aid treatment.

In the hours before his death, Mendoza “became confused, demonstrated difficulty walking, talking and breathing and lost consciousness", the report said.

Another farm worker eventually called emergency services, according to the report, but Mendoza went into cardiac arrest and died before they arrived.

The farm's legal representation said in a statement to the BBC that it takes the health and safety of its workers "very seriously" and is contesting the labour department's findings.

"Many of the team members have been returning to Barnes for years, and returned again for this growing season, because of the farm’s commitment to health and safety," they said.

But Hugo did not return. He says he now works for a welding company.

“Bad things happen to a lot of us,” Hugo says. “I know it could happen to me, too.”

The agricultural industry also has the highest rate of workplace deaths, followed by transportation and construction, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Earlier this year, back-to-back deaths highlighted some of these dangers.
Universal Images Group via Getty Images



Six Latin American workers died in Baltimore when the bridge they were repairing overnight collapsed in late March.

Weeks later, a bus carrying Mexican farm workers to the fields crashed in Florida. Eight were killed.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Maryland Governor Wes Moore recalled the Baltimore incident, honouring the workers who died “fixing potholes on a bridge while we slept”.

Both Mendoza and Hugo had H2A visas that allowed them temporarily to work in US agriculture. And the number of foreign-born workers who rely on this type of visa has grown.

Between 2017-2022, H2A visa holders have increased by 64.7%, or by nearly 150,000 workers.

In total, about 70% of farmworkers are foreign born, and over three-quarters are Hispanic, according to the National Center for Farmworker Health.

“Immigration is the key source of workers for many jobs in the US,” Chloe East, a University of Colorado Denver economics professor who focuses on immigration policy, says.

“We know for a fact that foreign-born workers are taking these types of dangerous jobs that US-born workers don’t.”

A 2020 federal investigation into agricultural H2A labourers in Florida, Texas and Georgia described conditions akin to “modern-day slavery”. Due to the investigation, 24 people were charged with trafficking, money laundering and other crimes.

“The American dream is a powerful attraction for destitute and desperate people across the globe, and where there is need, there is greed from those who will attempt to exploit,” Acting US Attorney David Estes said in a press release at the time.

Migrants that enter the country illegally can have even less protections if they’re hired to work, experts say. And almost half of agricultural workers are undocumented, according to the Centre for Migration Studies.

“Undocumented immigrant workers are concentrated in the most dangerous, hazardous, and otherwise unappealing jobs in US,” according to an article published in the International Migration Review.

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Extortion and kidnap - a deadly journey across Mexico



One of the most dangerous jobs in the agricultural industry is dairy farming.

The dangers include overexposure to poisonous chemicals or hazardous machinery. Manure pits pose the risks of deadly toxic gases and drowning. The animals themselves can also be a threat.

Olga, who moved to the US from Mexico as a teenager, is an undocumented migrant dairy farm worker in Vermont. She says she saw her sister nearly trampled to death by a cow.

“The cow basically stomped on her and she was basically dying. Her tongue was even out,” Olga recalls.

Olga says that although the incident left her sister with a broken arm and two broken ribs, the farm’s manager demanded her return to work almost immediately.

It wasn’t until she provided a doctor’s note showing that her sister couldn’t work that “the boss left her alone”, Olga says. Her sister no longer works in farming.

Olga, however, still does.

The 29-year-old says she’s there “12 hours a day, every day”.

“There’s no raises. There’s no rest, and they don’t even pay on time,” she says. “They pay you when they want.”

Earlier this summer, the US Department of Labor implemented new rules designed to make working conditions for temporary farm workers safer, including protecting workers that organise to advocate for their rights from employer retaliation, and prohibiting employers from withholding workers' passports and immigration documents.

But just as authorities have tried to crack down on migrant abuse, anti-migrant rhetoric, fuelled by political debates over record-breaking levels of illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border, have added to Hispanic migrants’ difficulties.

On multiple occasions, Donald Trump has referred to illegal immigration as an “invasion” and called those who cross “animals”, “drug dealers”, and “rapists”.

“It makes me feel sad. We’re always being attacked for being migrants,” Olga said.

“They should see how we live to survive in this country.”

Enhanced border restrictions, enacted by President Joe Biden in June, may also make safety conditions worse, Prof East said, noting how stricter immigration laws can make workers afraid to speak up for safety protocols.

“Most people stay quiet because they are scared of all the laws being passed,” Hugo says. “You can’t complain.”

Hugo says lately he has noticed more discrimination, recalling a recent experience where a store owner refused to sell him water because he struggled to speak English.

“People treat us badly,” he says.

Türkiye: Plans for Harmful Coal Expansion

Toxic Air Affects Health in Surrounding Community


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Entrance to Çoğulhan village, located 500 meters from Afşin Elbistan, a coal power plant, Afşin, Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye. © 2024 Katharina Rall/Human Rights Watch

(Istanbul) – Türkiye’s Environment Ministry should not approve the planned addition of two more units at Afşin-Elbistan coal power plant A in the southeastern Kahramanmaraş province in view of the serious harm the plant has caused the surrounding community, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch research found that air pollution levels near plant A – and the later built plant B located two kilometers away – are dangerously high and that residents are experiencing health conditions that academic studies have attributed to toxic air. Despite an early government warning that a cancer explosion was expected in Afşin-Elbistan, the government has failed to monitor and reduce the harm with more stringent regulations and enforcement.

“Toxic air from coal power plants is killing thousands of people every year in Türkiye while authorities do little to prevent the problem or even to warn people of the harm to their health,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of authorizing the expansion of polluting coal power plants, the Turkish government should strengthen and enforce air quality standards and enable a just transition from coal to renewables by 2030.”

The government is continuing to expand coal plants notwithstanding significant progress in Türkiye’s renewable energy sources that research has shown would enable Türkiye to exit coal by 2030. Renewable energy sources currently make up 54 percent of Türkiye’s installed electricity capacity, significantly above the global average of about 30 percent, and the International Energy Agency projects renewable energy use to increase 50 percent between 2021 and 2026.

In May 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 28 residents about their experiences of air pollution in Afşin-Elbistan, including 11 women and 4 older people; 2 elected village headmen from nearby villages; the mayor of the nearby town of Elbistan, 2 academics, 5 health professionals working in the region, 2 lawyers, 1 public official, and 6 local activists. Human Rights Watch also reviewed and analyzed recent air quality data from the closest governmental monitoring station whose data is publicly available, satellite data of air pollution from the EU Copernicus program, and official government documents.

Human Rights Watch wrote letters to the relevant seven divisions at the Health Ministry and that the parent company of the firm operating coal plant, which had applied for the additional units; to the state-owned electricity generation company; and to local government authorities. It also wrote to the Turkish Statistical Institute requesting health data related to Afşin and Elbistan districts. None have responded.

Residents living near the coal plants said that friends, family, and neighbors had died from cancer and cardiovascular or respiratory ailments they believe were attributable to or exacerbated by the pollution from the nearby plants.

A 57-year-old man in a village about 500 meters from coal plant A has had respiratory illness for the past 13 years: “I have asthma, and my doctor says I need clean air. But there is no clean air. We are all ill here.”

Health care workers interviewed said they had seen increased rates of respiratory problems in areas surrounding the plants.

The coal mine feeding the power plants in Afşin-Elbistan is a so-called carbon bomb, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel production projects with a coal extraction capacity of 4.09 gigatons of carbon dioxide. Expanding the coal plant threatens Türkiye’s energy transition and jeopardizes Türkiye’s obligations under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Despite substantial investment in renewable energy sources, including solar and wind energy, Türkiye’s 2022 National Energy Plan makes no mention of a planned phaseout from coal-based electricity generation.

The country became Europe’s largest coal-fired electricity producer in early 2024 and accounts for 73 percent of planned but not-yet-constructed coal projects within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the EU that are actively seeking necessary approvals and financing. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, more than 35,000 people died from air pollution in 2019 in Türkiye.

Türkiye should address air pollution as part of its constitutional and international legal obligations to realize the human rights to health, life, and a healthy environment and stop the expansion of coal plants in line with the duty to prevent exposure to toxic substances. The government should tackle the root causes of air pollution by drastically reducing the release of harmful pollutants, including with concrete actions to phase out coal by 2030 and refraining from expanding existing operations.

It should also take concrete steps to better monitor air quality and make the results easy to access and understandable by everyone, and by improving and applying rigorous air quality standards in line with WHO recommendations, especially in areas affected by coal plant emissions. The government should promptly introduce limits for PM2.5 – polluting particulate matter – concentrations in line with current EU regulations, and further strive to update its air quality standards to comply with proposed new EU standards expected to be adopted later in 2024. Data of emissions from large combustion plants should be made public.

“People in Afşin-Elbistan have been paying the price of coal-based electricity generation for decades,” Willamson said. “Instead of expanding a coal plant in an area where people have been exposed to high levels of pollution, the governments should urgently protect their lives and realize their right to a healthy environment.”

For additional details about air pollution and the situation in Türkiye, please see below.

Scientific research has found that exposure to air pollutants from coal power plants is associated with a risk of mortality more than double that of exposure from other sources and that canceling new coal plants would reduce air pollution related mortality globally.

The use of coal for electricity generation, alongside the domestic residential use of coal and wood for heating, creates heavy air pollution in Türkiye’s coal regions. Türkiye produces electricity by burning lignite, a low-quality polluting type of coal found in abundance throughout the country, in outdated coal plants.

Over four decades, successive Turkish governments have built and expanded two of the country’s biggest coal power plants, plants A and B, in Afşin-Elbistan. Emissions from plant A, which lacked technology to reduce emissions from its inception in 1984 through its temporary closure in 2023, are of particular concern, Human Rights Watch said. Plant A is 2.5 kilometers from plant B, which was built in 2004 using newer technologies.

Despite this, the Turkish authorities are due to be presented with an environmental impact assessment that gives the go-ahead for the construction of two additional units at power plant A, with an additional capacity of 688 MW and an investment cost of 37.5 billion Turkish Lira (at the time approximately 1.1. billion USD). A 2022 study commissioned by Greenpeace Mediterranean estimates that the planned expansion of the plant will lead to about 1,900 premature deaths over its 30-year economic lifespan.

Human Rights Watch analysis of air quality data from January 2021 to June 2024 found dangerously high levels of air pollution in the area surrounding the Afşin-Elbistan coal plants. Analysis of satellite data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission shows that the average concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) was significantly higher over the plants and in the surrounding villages than over Elbistan, the location of the closest air quality monitoring station whose data is published. Residents living in villages close to the coal plants said they have not received any information about the risks from the plants in the region or how to help protect themselves.


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Map of the village of Çoğulhan, between the two Afşin-Elbistan coal plants. © Image © 2024 Airbus. Google Earth. Graphic © Human Rights Watch

Türkiye’s air quality standards are less strict than those recommended by WHO and do not include a limit for the harmful PM2.5 pollutant, responsible for the most deaths worldwide of any pollutant, leaving a major regulatory gap.


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© 2024

Coal, Health, and Climate Change

Globally, coal plants are responsible for over 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions: more than any other single source contributing to the climate crisis. Burning coal, and in particular lignite, releases significant pollutants including particulate matter and sulphur dioxide (SO2), each of which can significantly harm health.

The impact of particulate matter of less than 10 micrometers (PM10) and of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) on human health is substantial. PM2.5 can reach deep into the lower respiratory tract, leading to serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and can easily enter the bloodstream and penetrate the lungs. Another pollutant of concern is SO2 which can cause harmful effects to the lungs, damage the cardiovascular and nervous systems and contribute to type 2 diabetes and even death.

Although Türkiye’s updated 2023 Nationally Determined Contributions, its climate action plan under the Paris Agreement, aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation, the country has not set a date for a coal exit. Allowing the addition of two new units with a total capacity of 688 MW to the existing 1.355 MW at the coal power plant Afşin-Elbistan A could undermine efforts to phase out coal.

Despite these advances, government data indicates that 36 percent of the electricity produced in Türkiye in 2022 was generated by coal plants. Türkiye’s operating coal fleet grew by 34 percent between 2015 and 2023.In the first quarter of 2024, the total installed capacity of coal plants was 20.2 GW, with an additional 2 GW capacity expected by 2035.

Coal Feeding Toxic Air

According to 2019 Turkish Health Ministry data air pollution is among the most important factors affecting life expectancy in Turkey. A 2001 scientific study found that communities near coal plants in the western province of Kütahya are more likely to experience health problems such as respiratory problems and reduced lung function, conditions commonly linked to air pollution.

Another study, first published in 2010, found that the impact of air pollution on people in villages near the Bursa Orhaneli coal plant in northwest Türkiye was dependent on their proximity to the coal plant as a predictor of various respiratory diseases. Children living in Türkiye’s coal-mining areas are also at higher risk of exposure to dangerous heavy metals.

Türkiye has f 380 air quality monitoring stations across the country; the closest to Afşin-Elbistan coal plant A with publicly available data is in Elbistan, 22 kilometers away. Other stations are within 3 kilometers of the plant produce no publicly available data.


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Data © OpenStreetMap

Human Rights Watch analysis of SO2 concentrations recorded at the Elbistan ground monitoring station between 2019 and June 2024 shows that pollution levels started to decrease when operations of plant A temporarily ceased between February and May 2020 because the government said it had failed to comply with regulatory requirements.

Pollution levels decreased even more significantly when operations of plants A and B ceased for most of 2023 after the two earthquakes of February 6, 2023, affecting the entire region and slightly damaging the plant. The Right to Clean Air Platform (CAP), a national network of environmental groups and health professionals, similarly found that Afşin-Elbistan was a pollution hotspot in 2019.


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The graph above represents the daily average of SO2 concentration between January 2019 and June 2024 measured at Elbistan air quality monitoring station. Pollution levels started to decrease when operations temporarily ceased between February and May 2020. Pollution levels decreased more significantly when operations also ceased for most of 2023 after the two earthquakes of February 6, 2023. For comparison, the graph above includes the daily WHO recommended SO2 concentration limit of 45 µg/m³, the proposed EU 2030 standards limit of 50 µg/m³ limit, and the 2019 Turkish standards limit of 125 µg/m³. © 2024 Human Rights Watch

The SO2 values recorded at the government ground level monitoring station in Elbistan are very likely to be much lower than at the levels at locations closer to the plant. The average SO2 vertical column density at ground level from January 1, 2019, to June 1, 2024, over the village of Çoğulhan, directly adjacent to the plant, was almost three times higher than the average density recorded over the monitoring station in Elbistan during that period.


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Map of the average SO2 concentration from January 1, 2019, to June 1, 2024, around the Afşin-Elbistan coal power plant A showing significantly higher levels in the immediate vicinity of the plant than over the closest monitoring station, 22km away in the town of Elbistan. Data © Copernicus Sentinel-5P processed with Google Earth Engine. Analysis and graphic © Human Rights Watch.

The Afsin-Elbistan A plant had been allowed to operate without filters required by environmental regulations for many years. Despite repeated legal challenges and campaigning that resulted in its closure on January 1, 2020 for failure to comply with environmental regulations, the government permitted the plant to reopen in May 2020 and to continue operating until the earthquakes, which damaged the plants. As of December 26, 2023, only one of four A plant units, for the first time fitted with a desulfurization filter, had been permitted to restart.

While the best available technology for desulfurization can drastically lower SO2 emissions, it is unclear whether this technology is used at the unit that has been permitted to restart. There are also concerns that air pollutant filters lose performance efficiency over time. As is acknowledged in the environmental impact assessment, if new units are added to the existing coal plant, SO2 pollution levels in the area will rise. In addition, while the best available desulphurization technology can significantly limit exposure to SO2, it cannot undo the health harm caused by prior exposure.

In November 2018, Çelikler Holding, a private company, took over Afsin-Elbistan A plant, from the state company (EÜAŞ), which previously operated it. Human Rights Watch does not know the terms of the agreement between the state company and Çelikler Holding and key details of the agreement should be made public.

Çelikler Holding says on their website that they “aim to prevent negative impacts on the environment and society and to take appropriate measures [to reduce such impacts] where they cannot be prevented.” The company did not respond to questions about the measures taken to minimize the release of harmful air pollutants and requested projections once filtration is fully installed at the plant.

Human Rights Watch analysis of PM2.5 levels recorded at the government monitoring station in Elbistan from January 2021 to June 2024 found that the average PM2.5 concentration was more than five times the annual WHO recommended level and almost three times the proposed 2030 EU standard. Türkiye has not established PM2.5 limits under its pollution control laws/standards aligned with the EU limits.


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The graph above represents the daily average PM2.5 concentration between January 2021 and June 2024 measured at Elbistan air quality monitoring station. For comparison, the WHO recommendation (daily average no higher than 45 µg/m³) and proposed EU 2030 standard (daily average no higher than 25 µg/m³) are also displayed. © 2024 Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch analysis of PM10 concentrations at the Elbistan air quality monitoring station between January 2021 and June 2024 also shows that pollution levels have remained high in recent years, with an average PM10 concentration more than four times the annual WHO recommended level and 1.75 times the 2019 Turkish standard.


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The graph above represents the daily average of PM 10 concentration between January 2021 and June 2024 measured at Elbistan air quality monitoring station. For comparison, the 2019 Turkish daily standard (50 µg/m³), the WHO recommendation and the proposed EU 2030 daily standard (45 µg/m³) are also displayed. © 2024 Human Rights Watch

Health Impacts of Toxic Air Fed by Coal in Afsin-Elbistan

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has told governments that to protect and fulfil the right to health governments are required to implement policies to reduce and eliminate air pollution.

People living in the vicinity of the coal plants in Afşin-Elbistan described health problems that they believe could be related to the toxic air they are breathing.

Hacıkız Savran, 70, who lives less than 500 meters from the power plant and can see the plant’s chimney belching out smoke from her living room, said she has had severe asthma for more than 7 years: “[My] doctor was surprised to hear that I had never smoked in my life. He said, ‘Why did you become [this sick] if you never smoked?’”

Fatma (real name withheld for her own protection) 55, lives in Çoğulhan, has had asthma for 4 years and lost her son to lung cancer which she believes was linked to pollution from the plant. She worries about the impact of air pollution on women: “There is a lot of asthma and a lot of chest and lung conditions among women in the village.… Men can go off in their cars to other places but we as women are always at home. We have to suffer the dirt of the plant.”

Children from Çoğulhan and six neighboring villages attend schools close to the plant. A health professional in Elbistan told Human Rights Watch that they had observed a high incidence of respiratory diseases, particularly among children.


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Map of the location of the schools in Çoğulhan, highlighting their proximity with the plant and the area for the additional two units. Image © 2024 Airbus. Google Earth. © Graphic © Human Rights Watch

People with certain health conditions, such as asthma or cardiovascular problems, children, older people, pregnant women, workers, those living in poverty, and members of other socially and economically marginalized groups are among those most at risk of exposure and adverse effects of air pollution.

Scientific research drawing on data from 83 countries suggests that the more a country relies on coal power plants to generate energy, the greater the lung cancer risk. While research specific to the health impacts of air pollution for people in surrounding areas of the Afşin-Elbistan coal plant is scarce, a 2009 PhD thesis found that nonsmokers in nearby villages were more likely to experience genotoxic damage than those further away from the plant, which may increase the risk of cancer.

Similarly, a 2007 academic study found nonsmoking workers employed in the transportation of fly ash at Afşin-Elbistan A power plant to be more likely to experience cytogenetic damage (changes in their chromosomes which can lead to cancer).

Several people interviewed expressed concern about high numbers of cancer cases in their families.In 2002, the head of the Health Ministry’s Cancer Control Department stated that a cancer explosion was expected in Afşin-Elbistan, in the ensuing five years. The official noted that a coal power plant had been built there 30 years earlier and that the coal plant poses a serious danger to the people of the region.

A 2017 report by the same ministry identified Elbistan as a priority region for establishing an oncology service, a recommendation that has not been followed. The Health Ministry did not respond to questions regarding cancer prevalence in Afşin and Elbistan districts and whether further studies had been carried out.

Lack of Sufficient Monitoring of Air Quality

In 2019, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment published a report focused on the right to breathe clean air as one of the components of a right to a healthy environment. He outlined key steps governments to take in fulfilling the right to a healthy environment by ensuring clean air, the first of which is to monitor air quality and its impact on health.

Over the years, Türkiye has invested in developing its air quality monitoring systems, supported by EU accession funds. Yet the number of stations remain insufficient and data from areas at high risk of pollution is not available to the public.

While the Turkish government air quality monitoring website provides measurements from ground level monitoring stations across the country, the historic data is at times incomplete and pollution hotspots like Afşin-Elbistan are not closely monitored. According to analysis of 2016-2019 data, conditions in at least 21 of 81 provinces could not be adequately assessed because data was available for fewer than 75 percent of days, a criterion of the European Environment Agency.

Residents of Çoğulhan said that a monitoring station in the village was no longer operational, and no data from the station is publicly available. Human Rights Watch wrote in May 2024 to government and to the state-run electricity production company (EÜAŞ) seeking any data from the station, but received no reply.

These shortcomings prevent the Turkish government from reliably monitoring the impact of coal plants on air quality.

Lack of Information, Consultation about Power Plant Expansion

Another key step for governments to take to fulfill their human rights obligations is to share information in a timely, accessible way, educating the public about health risks and issuing health advisories.

Yet there is a dearth of information about the real extent of air pollution in the region and related health risks. In addition to the lack of effective monitoring of ground level air pollution, the emissions from large combustion plants, including coal plants, are not publicly available in Türkiye. Even when courts have ordered the government to provide emissions data of coal plants publicly, the authorities have not revealed the data.

Residents in Çoğulhan, Berçenek, and Altunelma, said they have not received any information about the extent of environmental problems in the region, possible health effects, or how to participate in decisions around the coal plant that would enable them to address prevent health risks and seek remediation for health harms suffered.

The Environment Ministry provides some health advice on a website, such as suggesting that members of sensitive groups limit outdoor activities when air pollution levels are high, but it does not provide detailed practical advice for at risk groups.

Residents also raised concerns about their lack of information about the planned expansion of the coal power plant. “They don’t ever tell us anything,” said Savran, the 70-year-old resident. “Everything is decided in Ankara.”

The newly elected mayor of Elbistan said that even municipal authorities were not consulted during the expansion approval process, an apparent violation of Turkish regulations governing the process.

Human Rights Obligations and Air Pollution

Human rights obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil rights including those to life, to bodily integrity, to health, to information and to a healthy environment require governments to take action to prevent air pollution and strive to ensure clean air. The UN Human Rights Committee, in its comment on obligations on the right to life noted that implementation of the obligation to respect the right to life, depends, among other things, on governments taking measures to protect the environment against pollution caused by public and private actors.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment has set out how states must not only not violate the right to breathe clean air through their own actions but also protect the right from being violated by third parties, especially businesses. To do so, governments must establish, implement and enforce laws, policies and programs to fulfil the right. They also have duties to promote education and public awareness; provide access to information; facilitate public participation in the assessment of proposed projects, policies and environmental decisions; and ensure affordable, timely access to remedies.

The European Court of Human Rights has found in several cases that severe environmental pollution affecting individuals’ well-being violated their rights to privacy and family life. In finding violations of human rights, the court has taken into account the proximity of homes to the source of pollution.

In its case-law, the court has established that governments have a positive obligation to undertake due diligence with respect to pollution hazards, weigh the impact they have on personal and family lives against any competing interests, and take effective measures to protect people’s lives and health, including by preventing or reducing the harmful impacts and providing adequate information to people.