The miners ruined our lives.
They chased us from our houses and took our farmland.
And brought us here.
In recent years, Malawi's government has promoted investment in resource extraction
as a way of diversifying its economy.
Many existing and future extraction sites are located near Lake Malawi
a fragile ecosystem and a key source of livelihood for more than 1.5 million people.
Multinational companies have started to explore and mine in many parts of the country.
Communities are concerned about environmental damage and its potential impact on basic human rights
such as the rights to water, food, housing and access to information.
Human Rights Watch recently visited Karonga district.
We carried out research in a community called Mwabulambo
where there is a coal mine which recently shut down
and in Kayelekera where there is both a coal and uranium mine.
When a company comes to a location like this one here and starts mining
one of the things that often happen is that people will be relocated.
All this used to be my village.
Nagomba and her family had to move in 2008 because a coal mine was built where they live.
They only received $150 US as compensation and needed to sell two cows
to be able to build a new home.
We were surprised. Where did these people come from?
And we were told that they were miners.
I used to have three fields where I was growing cassava, groundnuts and maize.
That is what I fed the children.
But they took it away from us. That's why we are hungry now.
People lost access to their farmland which their families had been using for generations.
They noticed poor harvests which they suspect was due to contaminated water
or coal dust washing into their fields.
Residents often complained of illnesses that they thought could be related to mining.
All of us, including myself and my two children
we cough a lot since the mining started.
The water is not good. It tastes like coal.
I had a cough and had stomach pains.
They gave me pills to take make me and I would feel better
but when I'm in pain I really suffer.
The problem is when I return from the hospital
I still drink the same dirty water so it's not much help.
Mining can contaminate water and soil
with toxins like arsenic, lead or uranium.
But there's no way for people to know if they're affected
simply because the health facilities in Karonga are not equipped to diagnose their symptoms.
As we live here, we don't know where the diseases we suffer come from
whether it is from the mines or not. We don't know.
When we spoke to residents, they said we were not informed of the risks of mining.
For example, they often felt their water source was no longer safe.
When we contacted the uranium mining company, they said they were monitoring the water quality
they would release the results only to the government.
Government officials would not release the test results to us
they won't release it to the local society groups
or even the affected communities.
The two coal companies did not even respond to our questions.
It's the government itself that is sitting on these results
of course if you quiz them, they'll tell you that "well, this is in the public domain
everybody know about the results of the analysis, water analysis" but not to my knowledge
and not to anybody's knowledge in Karonga here.
That is why we need the government to come and tell us the status of things.
Tell us not to be afraid because this is like this or like that.
Women and girls are usually responsible for fetching water for the whole family
so if there's a concern that the water closest to their home might not be safe
they will go to another source further away.
This leaves them less time to attend school, work in the fields or even rest.
[Before] we never suffered. I had water right by my [old] house.
I got water from the water supply to my [old] house.
The pipes were right by my house [with running water] in the kitchen and bathroom.
And then they destroyed everything.
Now, my problem is water, food. I struggle.
The government of Malawi wants mining to play a central role in the development of the country
but it should be done in a way that respects the rights of the local communities
and protects the environment, the water and the health of the people.