Diamond Mine: Understanding The Human Drama That Surrounds The Mines In Africa
The diamond business is one of the most lucrative businesses in the world for the past several years. As one of the most beautiful and durable substance in the face of the earth, the diamond is used both for fashion and for industrial purposes. With the strong demand for diamonds and the huge amount of money that these precious stones can command in the market, most people covet diamonds. No wonder why many diamond mines all over the world have become the subject of armed conflicts in the past several years. In fact, history is replete with incidents of violence and atrocities connected with diamonds.
The diamond mines in the African continent are especially known for their violent histories that the diamonds extracted from these diamond mines are nicknamed "blood diamonds". According to studies, thousands of people died in these mines. Most of those people who died in these African diamond mines are slaves and prisoners that were forced into labor. Although some of these prisoners did commit some crimes, many of these prisoners are innocent people. In fact, many of those who are forced to work in the diamond mines in Africa are women and young children. With the very bad working conditions in the mines, women and children are the first casualties in the search for diamonds. Hundreds of women and children contract diseases and die while working in the mines.
Rich Land, Poor People: The Sierra Leone Experience
Although Africa has some of the most productive diamond mines in the world, the people in this continent are large poor. According to studies, people living in this part of the world are among the poorest of the poor. In fact, Sierra Leone which is known for its rich diamond deposits has been ranked by the United Nations as one of the poorest in terms of quality of life. What went wrong in Sierra Leone? It's ironic really but the diamonds that are supposed to bring prosperity to this place is actually the culprit. Because of the rich diamond deposits in Sierra Leone, violence erupted. Everyone wants control over the diamonds and almost all of these people are willing to gain control over the stones at all cost. As a result, armed conflicts erupted in the country and people suffer from extreme poverty. It's really sad how the wealth of this nation becomes the worst enemy of the people.
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