Researchers from the International Human Rights Clinic, at the Harvard Law School, recently travelled through dozens of mining towns and villages in Sierra Leone to document the situation. They have just published their findings.
"The children and youth are faced with abysmal working conditions which put them at risk of accidents and diseases and expose them to collapsing mine pits," remarks Matthew Wells, who is co-author of the report titled "Digging in the Dirt: Child Miners in Sierra Leone’s Diamond Industry."
The report paints a horrific picture of slave labour, where children - some as young as 10 - transport bags of gravel weighing between 30 and 60 kilogrammes, on their heads, working from sunrise to sunset, often without proper food or medical care.
The government acknowledges the growing problem of child miners and the social problems it is causing, but insists it is doing its best to get them out of the mines. Last year, it passed into law gender and child rights acts, prohibiting children from being exposed to all forms of abuses.
But it seems the new laws are hardly enforced. Mass poverty and unemployment are major factors pushing children and the youth to the mines. Mining communities lack schools and trained teachers; and social services are few and far between. Most parents lack the financial means to send their children to school.
The daily wages for child miners range from 500 to 2,000 Leones: approximately 15 to 60 U.S. cents a day. They are promised bonuses after a find, but exactly how much they get is at the whim of their employer.
The exact number of child miners in Sierra Leone is not known but it is generally thought to be in the thousands, with the figure steadily rising. IPS saw hundreds of mine pits in Kono and Kenema districts in the east of the country, with dozens of children aged between 10 and 16 working in them. And although many hope to strike it rich, they often end up gaining nothing and losing everything: their youth, energy and education.
Not all diamond operators use children. The Harvard researchers found they are mostly recruited by artisanal miners who depend on children and youth as a source of cheap manual labour.
