“Favorable conditions”: Malaria surges in the Amazon as wildcat mining devours Indigenous land
FABIO ZUKER, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how, by carving massive holes in the earth and disrupting local ecosystems, illegal gold miners in the Amazon create the perfect breeding conditions for the mosquito-transmitted disease…
Land rehabilitation: In Indian mining hub, farmers bring polluted land back to life
ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on a land restoration scheme located in the heart of India’s iron ore industry…
Nearly 30 per cent of Brazil’s gold exports are illegal, report says
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Roughly 28 per cent of Brazilian gold exports in 2019 and 2020 likely came from illegal mines, a report by public prosecutors and the Federal University of Minas Gerais found, pointing to widespread forging of documents and lack of effective law enforcement. The report from federal prosecutors and the Federal University of Minas […]
Family men or forest destroyers?: Meet the miners living off the Amazon’s gold
LUCAS LANDAU and FABIO TEIXEIRA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report from Brazil on the Amazon’s illegal “wildcat” miners…
COVID in India: Pandemic drives more people to risk lives in illegal mica mines
ROLI SRIVASTAVA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the coronavirus pandemic has pushed more people into illegal mica mining…
UN warns child labour, trafficking on the rise in troubled Mali
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation More children have been trafficked, forced to work in gold mines and to fight as soldiers in Mali this year as conflict worsened and COVID-19 shut schools, the United Nations said on Tuesday. With security in Mali deteriorating, a network of humanitarian agencies led by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, documented […]
Amazon leaders demand illegal miners stay away to protect tribal lives
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Amazon tribal leaders called on governments in South America to ensure illegal miners stay away from their forest lands as they fear outsiders could spread the coronavirus among vulnerable Indigenous communities. At least 10 Indigenous people in Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia have died from the highly contagious COVID-19, according to the […]
SOUTH AMERICA: SEX TRADE FLOURISHES IN PERU’S AMAZON DESPITE CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL MINING
ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how, despite a military crackdown, prostitution is continuing around illegal mining activity in the Amazon…
Forced out of Angola, Congolese migrant workers left with no food or shelter
Thomson Reuters Foundation More than 300,000 Congolese forced out of Angola have flooded into a conflict-prone region where they have no food or shelter, aid agencies said on Wednesday, warning of an emerging crisis. Angola this month launched a crackdown on illegal diamond mining, expelling hundreds of thousands of migrant workers back to neighbouring Democratic […]