New report from Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program finds that Sierra Leone is losing its youth to diamond mining
As Sierra Leone’s diamond industry gets back on its feet after a decade of bloody civil war, child and youth diggers are still toiling, says a new report from the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School.
The report, “Digging in the Dirt: Child Miners in Sierra Leone’s Diamond Industry,” describes the hardships experienced by child and youth diggers in more than two dozen diamond mining sites in Sierra Leone. The report illustrates that the lack of basic educational opportunities for children and youth, vocational opportunities for adults, and social services in rural provinces is forcing many children to turn to open-pit mining as a source of income for their families.
Conditions in these mines, the report finds, are particularly harmful to children and youth. Young diggers work side-by-side with adults, shoveling sand, transporting bags of gravel weighing up to 130 pounds, and hunching for hours in search of diamonds. Poor nutrition and the back-breaking nature of the work are especially detrimental to children’s developing bodies. Abysmal working conditions put them at risk for accidents, diseases, and even death. Further, a lack of bargaining power among all diggers – but especially children and youth – leaves them unable to negotiate for fair pay and better working conditions.
The International Human Rights Clinic launched the report in Freetown, Sierra Leone in May 2009. Two students – Matthew Wells (J.D. ’09) and Aminta Ossom (J.D. ’09) – traveled to Sierra Leone to meet with government ministry offices, human rights organizations, and members of the media to share the report’s findings, working with Harvard Law School Clinical Instructor Sharanjeet Parmar.
“Beginning as early as ten years of age, child miners perform back-breaking labor under poor conditions where they receive little compensation for their efforts,” said Wells. “Child miners are overwhelmed by the work they are undertaking, laboring for six or seven days a week, being exposed to collapsing mine pits, and experiencing dire health impacts, including increased rates of malaria, worms, severe headaches, and disease.”
The report finds that despite laws in Sierra Leone that prohibit the use of child labor, the government has been largely ineffective with efforts to curb the use of children as diggers and miners in the diamond industry. In addition, corruption within the diamond mining system results in child laborers being given very meager compensation, deepening poverty that threatens future social stability.
“This report urges the government to take immediate action to eliminate child mining in Sierra Leone by better addressing the needs of adults and children in mining communities,” said Ossom. “But this cannot be done unless Sierra Leone improves accountability in the industry and government and ensures that diamond profits are shared with local communities so that families can better afford for children to stay in school.”
If changes are not made, the report argues, widespread feelings of alienation, frustration, and disenfranchisement among Sierra Leone’s young generation – the same factors that sparked the country’s decade-long war – will continue to grow.
To eliminate the practice of child mining, the report calls for both regulatory reforms within the government and the diamond industry, as well as renewed development programs to focus on poverty, education, and health care for Sierra Leonean children.
“Only a multi-faceted approach involving government, communities, and industry can prevent the threats caused by child mining to the future development of children in Sierra Leone’s mining communities ,” said Parmar.
To view a copy of this report, click here.
For more information, please contact Michael Jones at mijones @ law.harvard.edu or 617-495-9214, Matthew Wells at mwells @ law.harvard.edu, or Sharanjeet Parmar at sparmar @ law.harvard.edu.