The citizens of Bor constantly suffer from air pollution due to the mining operations in the form
of heavy metal content in particulate matter PM10 as arsenic, cadmium, and nickel surpassed
the allowed values. In 2020, the city of Bor filed a criminal complaint against Zijin Mining for
pollution caused by mining operations. In April 2021, the government temporarily closed the
Jama mine, owned by Zijin Mining, on environmental grounds after large environmental
protests in Belgrade. Throughout 2021, Bor suffered from the strongest sulphur dioxide (SO2) air
pollution in Serbia. Illegal business activities of Zijin Copper caused the pollution of surface
waters and wastewaters in a larger extent Based on the criminal complaint submitted by
Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI) in 2021, Zijin Copper and the director
of the company were fined one million dinars (8,517 euros) for the pollution of the river Mali
Pek.
The life expectancy in Bor is ten years shorter than in the rest of Serbia, and 25 per cent of the
city’s population is suffering from some malignancy, including leukaemia and autoimmune
diseases. However, the official statistics show a decrease in malignancy in Bor, as many patients
are sent for treatment to clinical centres in Niš or Belgrade. The situation will deteriorate further
as the PRC investors will increase the use of the smelter by 2.5 times.
Socio-Economic Rights
By selling the former mining and smelting company RTB to the Chinese, who employed domestic
labour force, the state bought social peace. After the arrival of the Zijin company, the economic
standard of the citizens of Bor and surrounding places has risen. According to locals, Serbian
workers are satisfied with salaries in Zijin Mining. On contrary, the media reports about Chinese
workers of Zijin Mining who are being held in prison-like conditions. Dozens of Chinese who are
working on the construction of the copper mine "Čukaru Peki" near Bor, protested in 2021,
complaining about working conditions, but also the spread of coronavirus infection in
overbooked and hygienically unconditional accommodation. Local authorities tolerate such a
situation because Serbia’s labour law has been suspended for Chinese workers.
The Serbian government continues to do everything it can to shape laws in a way fitting for PRC
investors, creating major problems for Bor residents. The Serbian government declared PRC
projects in Bor to be of national importance and thus protected investor from being subjugated
to legal inquiries and public oversight. In Bor region, around twenty inhabitants of the local
village Slatina had parts of their property appropriated by the Zijin Mining without receiving
adequate compensation despite their ongoing legal struggle.
Cross-cultural issues
The Chinese workers live outside the public eye, mostly near the remote construction sites
where they work – e.g. Bor Lake, Čukaru Peki barracks. People-to-people communication and
intercultural exchange are almost non-existent – something that is critical to mitigating the risks of tension between the two groups. In the past, there have been several incidents between the
local population and the Chinese over male-female relationships, while recently there have been
a number of incidents related to sexual assaults, such as increased prostitution and harassment
of underage girls. In the village of Metovnica, near Bor, several Zijin workers approached and
asked underage girls for sexual services, resulting in the deportation of these workers to China
to avoid the police investigation and prosecution.
Surveillance and security
The former RTB has its own surveillance system and private security, however, there are no
Huawei smart camaras installed in the city of Bor or near construction sites. Locals do not
expect face recognition technology to be installed in the future.
The Environment
Zrenjanin is already one of the most polluted cities in Serbia and has been without drinking water since 2004. A fear is present among the local population that the construction of the Linglong factory can lead to increased air and river pollution, as well as food safety as a result of bypassing environmental standards and violating the rule of law. Concerns remain about Carska Bara, a nature reserve close to Zrenjanin. To limit public scrutiny, local authorities prevented inhabitants of Zrenjanin from attending a public discussion on Linglong’s environmental impact assessment study.
Socio-Economic Rights
Serbian media reported that around 500 Vietnamese workers employed in the construction of the Linglong tyre factory lived in inhuman conditions without electricity, heating or water, and that they worked without working permits and their passports were taken from them by the employer. This case disturbed local population, as well as domestic and international human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and UN Human Rights Council, which have suspected that Vietnamese workers are victims of human trafficking. After great pressure from the public, local authorities carried out a limited inspection, but without any legal repercussions for Linglong. Therefore, many locals fear that future Serbian workers will work in an environment in which the local authorities continue tolerating violations of the labour standards by the PRC investors.
Human rights and the rule of law
The Linglong factory in Zrenjanin is a major case of the Serbian government paving the path to PRC-backed investors as the government donated to Linglong 96 hectares of arable land and provided subsidies of 75.8 million euros. The construction work surrounding the plant is frequently done without suitable permits or environmental studies and in violation of standard protocols. In one case a provincial construction inspector determined that unlawful construction had on the land of over 47,000 square metres and recommended the demolition of unlawful object. The city did not act on inspector’s recommendation stating that it is not in their jurisdiction. There are other rule of law violations as the local authorities in 2020 paid a hefty sum to the Belgrade based company Milennium for demining World War II mines on property where the Linglong factory was constructed. The payments were made by the city although by that point the land designated for demining belonged to Linglong.
In 2020 and 2021, police authorities prevented local activists from attending a public debate on the environmental and social impact of the Chinese projects. While the Serbian labour law does not apply to Chinese or Vietnamese workers, the Serbian government still has the right to inspect issues like health and safety at work, but the authorities do not utilise this right.
Cross-cultural issues
Lack of communication between the Linlong team and the local population, as well as lack of a clear integration plan of foreign labour fource causes a sense of uneasiness among the locals. The sudden arrival of a large number of Chinese workers in multiethnic local communities, like the village of Ečka, risks upsetting the delicate inter-ethnic harmony. The construction of housing facilities for future Chinese or Asian workers goes against local regulations, further adding suspicion among the locals toward Chinese workers. On the top of that, flyers were distributed to the underage girls about job opportunities at the Linglong factory leading local parents to fear that the girls were solicited for prostitution; the SMS messages were also being sent to underage girls with similar content, raising concern about how personal phone numbers became accessible to senders.
Surveillance and security
The use of cameras with face recognition technology was not observed by the locals, but there is fear that with the growth of Chinese presence, there will be intrusive use of Chinese technology. The fact that the first thing that the Linglong construction team did was to construct a wall implies a culture of secrecy. To prevent the media and activists from recording the construction site, Chinese security guards apply various tactics and behave aggressively, leading to the suspicion that they are well-trained security professionals with ties to the Chinese government. A local activist noted that the Linglong security guards photographed him, the gathered journalists and their licence plates, leading to the fear of potential targeting of these individuals by the Chinese security services if these persons were to travel outside Serbia.
The Environment
The Chinese company HBIS caused dramatic air pollution in Smederevo and its surroundings. The air in Smederevo remain below European standards for 120 days, while in some categories, the pollution level is not even recognised in the EU. Red dust containing carcinogenic metals frequently rains from the steel mill’s furnaces polluting the air and soil. In 2020, the inhabitants of Smederevo and the village of Radinac protested air and soil pollution caused by the steel mill by temporarily blocking the railway and the Danube river port used by the Hesteel Group. As the pollution continued, in 2022, the local activist organisation ‘Movement Tvrdjava,’ together with the residents of three villages - Radinac, Vranovo and Ralja - filed a criminal complaint to the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Smederevo against the Chinese company HBIS and its five directors for the crime of environmental pollution.
Public Health
Industrial pollution of air, water and soil has significantly contributed to the increase of certain malignant diseases, respiratory infections and autoimmune diseases. In Smederevo, the region with 100 000 inhabitants, reported 6,866 cancer cases in 2019 compared to 1,738 in 2011.
Additional source
Socio-Economic Rights
There are no publicaly available data about the number and position of Chinese workers at the Smederevo Steel Mill. Environmental activists from Smederevo noted that Chinese workers live in poor conditions. There is speculation that some of the Chinese workers at the Steel mill are (political) prisoners, but there is no legal evidence. Locals report that Serbian workers at steel mill often complain about poor working conditions, especially exploitation, low wages and over-time work. In search of better working conditions, many Serbian workers left the company and got a job in the cable factory for the automotive industry PKC Wiring System in Smederevo. This, however, was possible until the two companies entered into a gentleman's agreement that prevented the mobility of domestic labor force.
Cross-cultural issues
The Chinese workers do not make efforts to integrate with the local community, causing a sense of uneasiness among the locals, although some integration exists regarding children of Chinese management who attend local schools.
Surveillance and security
Steel mill has a video surveillance system and private security, however, there is no indication of the massive use of Chinese face recognition cameras. Nevertheless, the local population fears that cutting edge technology could be used as the PRC presence grows. So far, some local activists and international journalists have been interrupted by the Serbian security guards of the PRC owned steel mill while filming in a public are outside the perimeter of the steel plant.