Diamond miners in Sierra Leone ‘still face exploitation despite international concern’

DIAMOND MINERS still face huge economic and social challenges in spite of international efforts to improve the trade, researchers say.

A team from the University of Bath documented how diamonds travel from the mine in Sierra Leone to the market, focusing on people involved at different stages.

The diamond mining sector is among the country’s most lucrative export industries but only a fraction of its wealth returns to areas where diamonds are mined, they say.

Their research is presented as a 30-minute feature film called

which charts the story of artisan diamond miners working informally in Sierra Leone.

It comes 12 years after the thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Dr Roy Maconachie, from the University of Bath’s Centre for Development Studies, said: “International concerns for blood diamonds and efforts to address the problem through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme focused a lot of attention on Sierra Leone’s alluvial diamond mining sector.

“Sixteen years on from the end of the civil war, many people now just assume that everything is OK, but that’s not always the case.

“While the film raised international awareness of conflict diamonds, and the Kimberley Process has done much to address the problem, many important issues that our film raises have been overshadowed; most notably the exploitation that takes place due to the informal nature of the sector, and the fact that those toiling the land in search of diamonds very often do not reap the rewards of their efforts.

“Film can be such a powerful way of exposing problems that often remain invisible, and by charting the diamond journey from Sierra Leone to Antwerp we hope this film shows why the system is not fair and points to what could be done to improve matters for those at the mine face.”

The film, funded by Humanity United, documents the path that diamonds follow as they go from the mine in Kono District to the market in Antwerp.