Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a nonprofit watchdog focusing on corporate responsibility, published today a report on growing allegations of human and labor rights violations in the mining sector in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Kazakhstan was singled-out as one of the countries with the most allegations.
From worker deaths to environmental inspections, researchers at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre found 43 instances in which allegations of violations could have resulted in personal harm or serious pollution.
Most cases concerned mining projects involved in the extraction of critical raw materials, such as copper, zinc, iron, and lead, as well as uranium, chromium, and titanium.
In addition, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre researchers note that the cases selected for the 2024 report had increased by 23% compared to the average of the five previous years (2019-2023).
“Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Serbia recorded more allegations of abuse in 2024 than during the previous five years combined,” the report stated.
As demand for transition minerals in the region grows, there seem to be more human rights and environmental allegations, according to Ella Skybenko, a senior researcher at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
“The reason that we are seeing larger numbers is because the number of abuses are increasing, not because they are more frequently reported. We have been using the same methodology for years,” Skybenko told Vlast in an interview.
Overall, the research identified 270 alleged violations across 13 countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Russia was featured in more than one-third of all allegations.
Illustrative picture from the report. Source: Shutterstock.
Cases in Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, according to the research, occupational health and safety accounted for about half the cases reported. The press and official websites reported at least 14 cases of workplace deaths.
Notably, eight workers died as a result of an accident at a furnace at Karaganda Ferroalloy Plant, owned by YDD Corporation, in July 2024.
“In some countries, production of these minerals is actually decreasing, because of geopolitical issues, conflicts, and general instability. This has resulted in workers losing their jobs or not being paid, for example,” Skybenko said.
In Kazakhstan, workers have taken to the streets to demand better salaries and conditions.
“Beyond production numbers, we have noticed a decrease in industrial safety. We have various cases of workers protesting, demanding better salaries and conditions, like in the case of the Yuzhno-Zhezkazgan mine” Vladyslava Kaplina, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre researcher who focused on Kazakhstan, told Vlast.
In December 2024, around 250 workers went on strike and refused to go underground at the Yuzhno-Zhezkazgan copper mine in the central Ulytau region. They demanded better salaries, given the rise in the global price for the commodity and the galloping inflation within the country.
Days later, Kazakhmys, the massive conglomerate that owns the mine, reached an agreement with workers and promised to increase salaries by 8.5% as well as introduce new quarterly bonuses in 2025.
In October 2024, the Aktyubinsk chromium compounds plant faced six allegations of environmental pollution and poor working conditions. Its workers held several protests in the north-western city of Aktobe.
Earlier, an unscheduled inspection by authorities at the Zarechnoye uranium mine in the southern Turkistan region revealed that Kazatomprom, the flagship uranium producer, failed to report an accident that caused significant soil pollution.
What to Do
“We have witnessed an increased demand for transition minerals, through several partnerships between countries that have been signed, especially between the European Union and Central Asia. There is a push for more extraction,” Skybenko told Vlast.
Kazakhstan has recently come to the spotlight as a key partner in the EU’s energy transition strategy. It currently produces 19 of the EU’s 34 critical raw materials and is planning to expand to 21.
In the wider Central Asian region, the EU plans to invest millions of euros under its Global Gateway strategy.
The increased interest and investment, however, needs to go hand in hand with human rights protection, according to Skybenko.
“Governments need to introduce and implement robust legislation that would make sure that these abuses are not happening or, if they happen, that there is due prosecution for the responsible parties. Now, when governments sign these partnership agreements they do so non-transparently, especially at the negotiation phase and during project selection, according to civil society organizations,” Skybenko said.
Chiefly, the report recommends that the countries in the region “commit to just transition principles that promote shared prosperity, human rights due diligence, and fair negotiations – ensuring the inclusion of workers’ organizations, as well as local and Indigenous communities, throughout the entire project life cycle.”
The latest mining accidents, like the death of eight workers at another Kazakhmys mine in February this year, show that there is still a long way to go.
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