DIAMOND MINING IN AFRICA

                                               

      Diamonds have always drawn attention  and people use them for a variety purposes. Unluckily, the popularity of diamond leads severe conflicts and blood feuds to emerge among countries, especially in Africa because Africa is a diamond paradise. More than half of the diamonds of the world are  in  Africa. For hundreds of years, both the removal of these diamonds and the presentation of them in trade have caused one of the bloodiest processes of human history. Of all the issues connected to  diamond mining in Africa, child labor and health problems are the leading ones.

        Child labor is one of the gravest  aspects  of diamond mining in Africa. Because children are regarded as an easy source of cheap labor, they are regularly employed in the diamond mining industry. In some areas of Africa, children constitute more than half of the workforce. Today, in Sierra Leone, hundreds of children are forced to work  for  less than a dollar a day and under difficult (working) conditions. Life is full of hardship for such children because diamond mining  also involves physically challenging tasks such as digging and carrying. Compared with adults, children are more vulnerable to injuries and accidents.

        Another issues linked to  diamond mining in Africa is health problems. Many diamond miners work in extremely dangerous conditions. Small-scale diamond mining is often conducted without training or expertise. Miners may lack safety equipment and the proper tools. They can easily die or get injured in landslides, mine collapses and other accidents Environmental devastation resulting from diamond mining is another cause of diseases. In Sierra Leone, miners have littered the landscape with thousands of abandoned mining pits. These pits fill with stagnant rainwater, become infested with mosquitoes and serve as a breeding grounds for malaria.

       To sum up, one can list a wide range of problems as far as diamond mining in Africa is concerned, two of which are child labor and health problems. Many of the world's diamonds are mined using practices that exploit workers, children and communities. Miners are dying in accidents and child labor is widespread. Governments should not ignore this issue and should take action for these vulnerable workers' futures.