The
monstrous wickedness, of innocent children breaking
their bodies and souls in mines and quarries
for decades, has been shrugged by the employers
and hushed by governments. In spite of international
conventions and declarations, especially the
ILO Conventions 182 on Worst Forms of Child
Labour, prohibiting the use of children in mines
and quarries, still in many countries across
the world, children are found working in mines.
They are found working in quarries, open cast
mines and small underground quarries, in conditions,
which are amongst the most hazardous in all
sectors. Mining and quarrying is among one of
the most dangerous and unhealthy occupations,
it is very apparent and widely accepted that
child and adolescent labourers are becoming
more, not less, common in mining and quarrying
industry.
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Nearly
13 million the world’s poorest
people work in artisanal and small-scale
mining and an estimated 100 million
depend on it for their livelihood.
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An estimated 1 million children work
in small scale mining and quarrying
around the world.
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Children
mine diamonds, gold, and precious metals in
Africa, gems and rock in Asia, and gold, coal,
emeralds and tin in South America. Rock quarrying,
especially near booming cities and construction
areas are hubs of child labour as well as bonded
and forced labour. Intergenerational bondage
is a common feature in stone and rock quarrying
mines of South Asia. From dusk to dawn, there
are rarely limits to the length of the day these
children spend working in mines and quarries,
especially in artisanal and small-scale mining.
This work is labour intensive, low paying and
extremely hazardous, and for most it is a case
of debt bondage or bonded labour. The health
and development of child miners is jeopardized
by deep and poorly reinforced pits, poor ventilation,
excessive noise, intense vibrations from machines,
excessive heat or cold, high humidity levels,
awkward working positions and extremely arduous
work. Deaths from explosions or cave-ins are
not uncommon and there is a constant threat
of respiratory illnesses, dust or gas poisoning.
In many cases, first aid and medical facilities
are neither available near the workplace, nor
considered an option by the employers.
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There
are nearly equal percentages of girls and boys
working in mines and quarries, but what makes
the situation more precarious for the girls
is the rampant exploitation, both mental and
physical from the mine owners, contractors,
as well as from the miners. In India for example,
in the age group of 5-14, girl’s form
40% of the workforce, while in the 15-19 years
age group, they form 27% of the workforce.
Snake
Boys of Tanzania
The pits, used to mine Tanzanite,
can be up to 50m deep and tunnels
can be 300m long, unventilated and
extremely hot. The Nyokas
(Swahili for snake) are so-named
because they crawl through underground
tunnels like snakes. These boys
breathe harmful graphitic dust in
the tunnels and can work for up
to 18 hours at a time on only one
meal of bread and boiled cassava,
earning the equivalent of less than
US$1 per day. |
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In
Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador some 65,000 children
of both sexes work in mining, especially gold,
silver, tin and zinc, and 135,000 are at risk
of getting sucked into this activity. Peru is
the largest gold producer in Latin America and
number seven worldwide. Gold is the country's
main export and 13 per cent, some 15 tons a
year, comes from small-scale mining activities
with an export value of US$120 million per year,
and US accounts for 26% of all exports from
Peru.
The
situation is grim but not irremediable. The
WDACL is not just a one-day event, but also,
a platform to campaign to end child labour from
mines and quarries.
Call
For Action!!
We must work together to bring light to the
girls and boys toiling in deep dark claustrophobic
and hazardous mines and quarries.
