The collective relocation of Krivelj can no longer be delayed

While the residents of Krivelj have been waiting for more than a decade for the authorities to put in place the conditions for the relocation of this village near Bor, Serbia Zijin Copper is not waiting. Mining operations, including works carried out without the required approvals, have moved so close to homes, the school and the cemetery that virtually no safe distance remains. Daily blasting and ground vibrations disturb residents and damage their homes and their ancestors’ graves. Everyday life in Krivelj is marked by noise, vibrations and dust. Heavy machinery operates day and night, while Zijin demolishes buildings immediately next to occupied homes, placing further pressure on residents to leave. As the authorities continue to delay the collective relocation, effectively waiting for residents to leave the village on their own, conditions for those who remain are becoming increasingly difficult and unsafe. Krivelj cannot afford to wait for yet another plan, meeting or promise: its residents need protection now. 

The village of Krivelj needs to be relocated because the expansion of the Veliki Krivelj open-pit mine will occupy the area where this community has lived for more than four and a half centuries. As early as 2014, the Serbian Government initiated the preparation of the Spatial Plan for the Special-Purpose Area of the Bor–Majdanpek Mining Basin, intended to regulate the development of mining activities and establish the conditions for relocation. More than a decade later, the plan has still not been adopted, and the residents of Krivelj still do not know where, when or under what conditions they will be relocated.

“For years, our residents have been told that they will be relocated, yet we still do not know when, where or under what conditions. Meanwhile, the mine keeps getting closer. We feel every blast inside our homes like a powerful earthquake, walls are cracking, and the noise never stops, day or night. We no longer feel safe even in our own homes, because every blast brings the very real fear that someone’s house might collapse. We don't know whether to repair a house we may have to leave tomorrow or simply keep waiting. And we have already been waiting for more than ten years. Zijin Copper, however, is not waiting,” says Milan Ćosić, a resident of Krivelj.

 

_{Building materials from an adjacent property that fell}

_{onto an old house as a result of improper demolition,}

_{June 2026 (Photo: Milan Ćosić)}

 

Of particular concern is the gradual dismantling of the village even as “negotiations” over its collective relocation continue. The company is demolishing houses it has purchased while neighbouring homes remain occupied, exposing the families who still live there to noise, dust and risks of damage to their properties. This practice places additional pressure on the remaining residents to leave individually, while the authorities have neither secured the collective relocation nor provided effective protection for those who continue to live in Krivelj.

„For us, relocation has never been simply a matter of exchanging one house for another. If the village is broken apart, we lose our community, our way of life, our land, our cemetery, our culture and the ties that have been built here over generations. The hardest part is watching the village disappear piece by piece while the solution we have been promised for years is still nowhere in sight” says Jasna Tomić, a resident of Krivelj. 

_{Transfer of demolition waste from demolished houses directly beneath the school windows while classes were in session, June 2026 (Photo: Jasna Tomić)}

What makes the situation particularly urgent is that mining operations have advanced so close to the village that certain works and the dumping of mining material are now taking place directly above resident’s homes.

Throughout 2026, residents and the Platform for Social Development and Innovation (CORE) repeatedly requested action from the competent authorities concerning mining works carried out without the required approvals or in breach of those already granted; damage to homes and the village cemetery; demolition of buildings; the transport of materials in uncovered trucks; and reasonable grounds to suspect that Serbia Zijin Copper has been dumping mining waste and overburden in Krivelj without the required permit. As early as March, the municipal inspection authorities in Bor confirmed that the village cemetery had sustained damage. Yet the mining inspectorate has never conducted an on-site inspection to establish whether the damage was linked to blasting activities. Where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that mining works are being carried out without the required approvals and are endangering people living only a few hundred metres away, the authorities must not respond only after the damage has already occurred - particularly where that damage may be irreversible.

While the residents of Krivelj wait for answers and responsibility is passed from one authority to another, mining activities continue.

“Public authorities have the power to prohibit unlawful works and order measures to protect lives, property and the environment. When laws exist only on paper and fail to prevent harm, it is clear that the State is failing to provide effective protection for its citizens’ fundamental human rights. In Krivelj residents are repeatedly forced to demonstrate that their homes, their safety and everyday lives are under threat, while the company continues its activities without interruption. The State must act as a guarantor of its citizens’ rights, not stand by as their community disappears in the face of an expanding mine” says Ljubica Vukčević, lawyer at CORE.

^{Immediately after blasting in Krivelj, 18 September 2026 (Photo: Jasna Tomić)}

The competent authorities must act urgently to ensure that mining operations comply with the law, that effective inspections and enforcement measures are carried out, and that residents are protected. At the same time, the relocation process must be transparent, ensure the full participation of the residents of Krivelj and provide safeguards to preserve the community. Residents cannot be expected to wait indefinitely while their surroundings is irreversibly transformed and their living conditions become increasingly difficult and inhumane. 

_{Illegal dumping of overburden above homes in Krivelj, 25 September 2026 (Photo: Milan Ćosić)}