WASHINGTON — The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) voted to provide $1.25 billion of taxpayer dollars for the controversial Reko Diq copper mine in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The project, led by the Reko Diq Mining Company (a subsidiary of Barrick Gold), is slated to become one of the world’s largest copper mines but is already raising alarm over allegations of human rights abuses, threats to Indigenous communities, environmental destruction, and regional instability.
The project is located in one of Pakistan’s most militarized regions, where civic space is closed and reprisals against human rights defenders are escalating. Critics argue that in such a context, it is impossible for development financiers to uphold their own safeguards on human rights, environmental protection, and engagement with affected communities. Concerns include denial of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, water and air pollution, loss of livelihoods, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2025, members of the Human Rights Council of Balochistan who raised concerns about the project’s human rights and environmental impacts were reportedly detained by state forces, in what UN experts described as reprisals against civil-society engagement (Accountability Counsel, 2025). Local community leaders have also reported increased militarization, land-grabbing, and fear of enforced disappearance since the project’s expansion, making it nearly impossible to safely express opposition or demand accountability (Business & Human Rights Journal, 2025).
“Financing the Reko Diq mine in Balochistan is a direct betrayal of EXIM’s own safeguards. This project risks fueling human rights abuses, silencing Indigenous voices, and worsening climate impacts. EXIM should not bankroll destruction under the guise of ‘transition minerals,’” said Kayla Mohammed, International Policy and Finance Campaigner at Friends of the Earth U.S.
Media contact: Lindsay Tice, 202-783-7400 ext. 8403, ltice@foe.org
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