The Refugees of the Rio Doce disaster

The river: poisoned. The water: undrinkable. The people: desperate and depressed. Cities, villages and acres: inundated with toxic mud and dust- poisoned again and again every rainy season. That was the situation after the fatal mining dam break at Rio Doce in Brazil in 2015 that poisoned the river 620 km downriver to the Atlantic Ocean. Nineteen people were killed immediately, entire fish populations eradicated and 1,500 hectares of riparian forest destroyed, turning thousands of people into de facto refugees. With shady legal tricks the mining company Samarco forces the victims to negotiate for compensation themselves - fishermen, farmers and families against a gigantic international conglomerate jointly owned by Vale SA and BHP Group.