State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2014 - Mongolia

In 2013, the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (NCHRM) issued its 12th Report on Human Rights and Freedoms in Mongolia, reiterating the limited opportunities and political participation that minority groups such as ethnic Kazakhs and Tuva continued to face. While the NCHRM acknowledged the government's steps to extend access to minority-language educational materials for Kazakh speakers in the country, it highlighted the lack of progress made to implement Tuva language or educational programmes.

The NCHRM, building on its previous reports, highlighted the continued challenges that the country's booming mining industry poses for local communities. While resource extraction forms a large part of Mongolia's economy, the report highlighted its continued impacts on health and the environment. In particular, mining practices were threatening water resources in nearby areas through pollution and overuse, undermining local access to safe drinking water. NCHRM also underlined the lack of participation and fraud surrounding the issue of mining and its regulation. Furthermore, the disruptive effects of mining undermine the ability of herder communities to exercise their nomadic customs and traditions.

The Law on Prohibiting Mineral Exploration and Extraction Near Water Sources, Protected Areas and Forests, commonly known as the 'Long Name Law', was passed in 2009 to prevent environmental damage from mining in sensitive areas. However, the regulations have not been fully enforced, and by the summer of 2013, following meetings between the minister of mining and company representatives, it appeared that the legislation might be relaxed. In September, following a demonstration at the Mongolian parliament in which a gun was accidentally discharged, acclaimed environmentalist Tsetsegee Munkhbayar and a group of pastoralist activists were arrested. In January 2014 Munkhbayar, who had attracted international recognition for his environmental campaigning, was convicted with four others for 21 years for 'acts of terrorism'. The sentence attracted criticism from a number of civil society groups.

Oyu Tolgoi, a vast gold and copper mining project located in the Gobi desert, announced the production of its first copper concentrate in January and its first commercial shipment in July. According to projections, by 2020 the mine could account for a third of the country's GDP, although the operation also struggled with financing issues during 2013, amid disagreements between the Mongolian government and Rio Tinto, the main investor in the project. In February 2013, herders in Khanbogd soum formally presented a complaint to the World Bank's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman. However, despite the US representative on the board of the World Bank abstaining from the vote, referencing environmental concerns and the complaints lodged by the herder community, the boards of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation – the lending arm of the World Bank – agreed to approve the loan. Among other impacts, the submission highlighted the negative implications of the project's diversion of the Undai River, viewed by herders as sacred, in particular the possibility that it might lead to reduced water supplies and less productive pasture. Following the release of the assessment report in July, a meeting was held between herder and mining representatives in early 2014 to discuss compensation and environmental issues.

The increasing influence of foreign countries such as China in Mongolia's mineral extraction industry, against a backdrop of widespread poverty, has also driven a rise in 'resource nationalism'. This has encouraged right-wing extremists with a strong anti-Chinese agenda to embrace environmental protection and to target non-Mongolian mining companies with inspections to mobilize support for their activities. While this group remains at the fringe of Mongolian society, their message taps into wider social tensions within the country. This is reflected in the songs of popular Mongolian rapper Gee. The music video for his biggest hit, featuring a common ethnic slur against Chinese as its title, showed the performer singing a series of denigrating lyrics with sheep corpses hanging on meat hooks behind him.