TextSearch

Diamond extraction in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa is lucrative yet deeply entwined with trafficking and exploitation. Artisanal and informal mining in countries like Angola, Central African Republic, the DRC, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone has been linked to forced labor, child labor, and hazardous conditions such as collapses, chemical exposure, and starvation. Debt bondage is common: miners rely on “sponsors” or middlemen for tools and shelter but are repaid only through low-value gains—trapping them in cycles of indebtedness. Mining camps also foster environments prone to sex trafficking and overlap with conflict economies that use “blood diamonds” to fund violence Overview of diamond production in Sub-Saharan Africa Trade The top diamond exporting countries in sub-Saharan Africa are Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Lesotho, and Namibia.[1] However, these official export statistics are likely to understate production from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic, where smuggling is rampant. For example, illicit diamonds are estimated to make up as much as 70 percent of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s production.[2] Diamonds originating from African countries represent about 55-65 percent of the global trade.[3] The top importers of diamonds from African countries are Belgium, India, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong,China.[4] Features of production an supply chain Diamonds are extracted from geologic features known as “kimberlite pipes” through hard-rock, open-pit, or alluvial mining. Some diamonds are found near the kimberlite pipe instead of inside it or have been washed into nearby rivers where they are extracted via alluvial mining. Although diamonds can be extracted via formal commercial mining, diamond mining does not necessarily require a high level of resource input, and can therefore be mined in unstable environments with little to no technology or infrastructure.[5] In Central African Republic, almost all diamonds are thought to have originated in neighboring countries with more significant kimberlite but have washed out of the weak sandstone into the country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has kimberlite deposits concentrated in the southwestern and northeastern provinces. Angola’s diamond fields are in the southeastern, central, and northeastern provinces.[6] After mining, raw diamonds are purchased by middlemen and exported for processing in one of a few global diamond sorting and cutting centers. These include Tel Aviv, Israel; Antwerp, Belgium; and Surat, India. At these centers, diamonds from all locations are mixed together, making traceability difficult. Some producing countries, such as Zimbabwe, are also beginning to cut and polish their own diamonds. New York and London are major centers of diamond sales. The diamond industry is very centralized, with just a few major corporations like De Beers and ALROSA accounting for the majority of global production and trade. After an increase of 2.9 percent in global diamond sales in 2014,[7] the market slumped, and revenues decreased by 24 percent in 2015. It began to recover in the first half of 2016, driven by growing middle classes in India and China, as well as steady U.S. demand.[8] Industrial uses of diamonds, such as cutting and drilling, account for 70 percent of all diamonds, generally those of lesser quality.[9] Their small size and high value, combined with frequently illicit origins, make diamonds a commonly smuggled commodity. This is particularly true in the African context. After the United Nations and the Kimberly Process (which regulates the trade in rough diamonds in order to safeguard against conflict financing) embargoed diamonds from the Central African Republic in 2013, there was reportedly a significant increase of smuggling of these diamonds into neighboring Cameroon, which then allowed those diamonds to enter the legitimate diamond market.[10] In some cases, smuggled diamonds were exported with certificates falsely noting their origin as Cameroon. In other cases, diamonds passed illicitly through Cameroon to other African exporting countries. Analysis from Partnership Africa Canada notes that corruption and the lack of government capacity contribute to this illicit trade.[11] Diamonds represent both an important source of potential income for countries and miners, while also posing risks that they will be used to fund corrupt government officials and criminal or armed groups. Diamond mining, especially in Africa, has long been associated with conflict, weak governance and the concept of a “resource curse” – a term referring to the situation where a country’s possession of a valuable natural resource endowment actually threatens to undermine its development and stability. Key documented trafficking in persons risk factors in diamond production According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, dia...

Diamonds - Verité