The Covid-19 pandemic has struck small-scale mining hard, slashing incomes, exposing miners to higher risks and even increasing making use of child labour, says a new report issued on Tuesday.
The report, released by Human being Rights Watch, states that in some parts of Africa and other continents, “mining activity has been reduced or stopped due to lockdowns and obstructed trade routes. Where mining has been suspended, mine workers and their families have actually lost their income.
” Where mining has actually continued, employees and impacted communities have been exposed to increased threats to their human rights. In some small mining areas, child labour has risen.”
Pointing out examples of the impact of the coronavirus, Person Rights Watch states children have been used in greater numbers in artisanal gold and diamond mining sites in the Central African Republic and in artisanal gold mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Its includes there has also been a boost in unlawful gold and diamond mining and trading in numerous countries, including Guinea and Ghana, partially due to the fact that of minimized federal government tracking and constraint on the legal motion of product.
” As a result, mining communities are at increased threats of exploitation, abuse, and ecological damage by illegal mining operators …” the report continues.
” In East and Central Africa, while numerous trading homes shuttered, illicit trading networks thrived. Traders travelled to the DR Congo and Uganda to export gold from there, and illegal gold exports were reported to continue from the DRC through Uganda to the gold-trading hubs of Dubai and Istanbul.
” This prohibited trade can intensify financial exploitation of local employees, money-laundering, and violence in conflict-affected countries such as Congo.”
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https://phlebotomytechnicianprogram.org/africa-coronavirus-pandemic-hurting-small-scale-miners-states-report/
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