Information letter No. 9 for the 2nd International Miners‘ Conference from February 2 to 5 2017, Ramagundam/ Godavari Khani, India

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

the 2nd International Miners' Conference in India will begin in 3 months. The Indian National Preparatory Committee courageously faces its responsibility as host country. 12 trade union federations cooperate in it. They started a campaign concerning the announcement and preparation of the International Miners' Conference throughout the Indian mining regions. A "Reception Committee" consisting of 86 personalities, partly professors etc., invoke in a beautifully designed call to support the conference. Flyers, the poster as well as the call of the Reception Committee can be found on our website. The preparation takes place under the impression of the struggles of the Indian miners who, among other things, actively participated in the powerful general strike against the government on 2 September, too.

In the meantime, delegates from 18 countries and 4 continents confirmed their registration by name.
We received requests for participation from 15 other countries. Currently, the attendance is being discussed in several countries.

It is important that the clarification of all preparations will be finished bindingly because most motions, registrations, etc. must be completed by 01 December 2016 to ideally promote the struggle of the miners worldwide through our conference.

With this info letter, we want to provide you with every information regarding preparation, registration, journey and participation.

To all participants not yet announced: please fix your registration immediately.
The deadline for registrations of delegates will be on 01 December 2016. You can find a registration form for filling in on our website.

Every foreigner arriving will need a passport. This must be valid at least for another 6 months on the day of departing India and must contain at least two empty pages for entry and departure stamps.

Most participants and delegates will need a visa to enter India. In order to get one we ask you to research on the website of the Indian embassy which conditions apply to your country for getting a visa, which documents are necessary and to collect them asap. We now also have an official invitation letter from India for that.
There are conference and tourist visas. Please coordinate with us which visa you want to apply for. If questions and difficulties arise we'll be happy to support you. It's especially important for travellers from countries liable to visas to write to us asap so that we can send you the official invitation. Please register with name, date of birth, passport number, address - the sooner, the better!
Where to apply for the visa:
Go to the nearest Indian embassy or consulate general of India. Tips for visas are to be found on the Indian online portal for visas: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.html

The Indian Preparatory Committee agreed to organise the collective journey from Hyderabad airport to the venue. In order to do that you should arrive at Hyderabad airport by 12pm (noon) on the 1st of February.
International brigadists and participants who support the preparation of the 2nd International Miners' Conference will be collected in Hyderabad at 3pm on 22 February 2017 as well as 27 February 2017 and taken to the conference venue in Ramagundam/Godavari Khani.
Please let us know when you will arrive at Hyderabad airport.

The registration of the delegates including accreditation in Godavari Khani will take place from 10am till 12pm (noon) on 2 February.
The conference ends at around 4pm on 05 February. After the transit which will be organised by the Indian Preparatory Committee the return flight from Hyderabad can be made from 06 February, 3pm onwards.

Please enquire about flights from your country to Hyderabad, in particular cheap airfares. You can also spend the nights in Hyderabad before the organised transfer. You can turn to us concerning flight bookings and accommodation in Hyderabad.

The participants will have to cover the following approximate costs:
According to each country visa fees can be quite different and can amount to several 100 Euros. Accommodation in guest houses will be organised by the Indian Preparatory Committee. The costs for 4 days will be around 4 Euro for delegates and brigadists from India and countries with very low financial means, for delegates and brigadists from countries with a somewhat better financial situation 10 Euros, for delegates and brigadists from countries that normally can pay a bit more – like Europe – 20 Euros.
We can provide addresses of hotels in Ramagundam/Godavari Khani to you. For food you should calculate app. 5 to 7 Euros per day outside the conference. Prices for catering during the conference will be put on the website.
Regarding the transfer we ask brigadists and delegates who are able to do so to make a donation to the International fund for travel expenses for countries which cannot finance their journey completely on their own.
The price for the conference fee will be put online as well.

It is important that everybody collects donations in order to achieve our goal of at least one delegate from each country being able to come.

How to prepare for the conference:
Written motions concerning the draft of a militant programme of the International Miners' Coordination must be sent to our email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in English until 01/12/2016 or in time via post to the office of the International Miners' Coordination (see letterhead). The militant draft programme of the International Coordinating Group which shall be decided by the General Assembly of the delegates at the 2nd International Miners' Conference can be downloaded from the website or you can order it from us.

The country reports serve as a mutual meeting of the various countries and organisations at the conference. They have to be submitted to us until 01/12/2016 if they must be translated into in English or other languages. We have corrected the proposal on how to create a country report.
The country reports should take max. 5 minutes and should be presented in the conference language, being English. They should contain: a short characterisation of your country; a short characterisation of the development of mining in your country; development of the struggles and demands of local miners against the mining monopolies and the government; development of all the living conditions and the mass movements in the country. They should provide an overview to the international audience about the conditions and circumstances of the miners and their families.
If you have questions or need any help please contact us: (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

We're already looking forward to more applications and contributions for the planned fora. The topics of the fora can be viewed in the info letter No. 8 and on the website.

Call for the worldwide Environmental Day of Struggle on November 12th
The International Coordination Group published a call for the worldwide Environmental Day of Struggle on the 12th of November this year. The environmental call can be downloaded from the website. Please use it broadly among the miners and the population in the mining regions, in doing so also advertise for the 2nd International Miners' Conference.
Please report to us about your experiences during the preparation of the 2nd International Miners' Conference and about the process of the International Environmental Day of Struggle in your countries for publication on the website: www.minersconference.org.

Dear delegates, interested parties and pariticipants of the 2nd International Miners' Conference,
Currently miners are fighting bitterly in many countries, many miners and their families are being exposed to existential attacks. Not much can be solved only at a national level any more, this is why there are high expectations regarding the International Miners' Conference and its coordination.

Let's live up to this expectation! Discuss about the conference and let us prepare and participate in it together.
Now it is most important to tackle the registration and the journey immediately and to clarify them quickly. Sometimes the bureaucratic effort is considerable. Please contact us right away if you need support with that.

Good luck
Andreas Tadysiak – Main Coordinator of the International Coordination Group