Conflict Diamonds, also known as “Blood Diamonds”, are currently being exploited to illegallyfund civil wars in conflicted countries, specifically in Central and Western Africa.
The mineworkers that obtain the rough diamond, face horrific working conditions including many healthconcerns such as tuberculosis and respiratory disease from inhaling diamond grains.Approximately 65% of the world diamond supply is mined from Africa, which raises the question,do the diamonds that the average person buys originate from an ethical source?With a population of about 6 million people, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by landmass and is not economically diverse. Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and therefore,exports of this resource adds great value to their GDP.
Due to their lack of economic diversity,the mining industry does not significantly contribute to the country’s GDP as they are not as richin valuable minerals, specifically diamonds. Since “Blood Diamonds” are not allowed in themainstream market for diamonds due to the establishment of the Kimberley Process in 2003,social media platforms such as Facebook, and Whatsapp have been used to illicitly sell theseitems. In Libya, arms dealers are contributing to the illegal trade, and arms being used in civilwars by offering any caliber of weapon, ranging from handguns and automatic weapons, toground-to- air missiles.It is clearly evident that the trade, and mining of “Blood Diamonds” has caused conflictthroughout parts of Africa as well as raised many concerns about social working conditions.Even though Libya is not a participant in the Kimberley Process currently, they are opposed tothe illegal trade of arms through social media which correlates to the process of “BloodDiamond” trade and the funding of the arms in African civil wars. The United Nations and Libya,along with help from the international maritime force, are working together to stop this illicit tradethat is taking place.The mining, and trade of “Blood Diamonds” is morally wrong as workers are paid less than adollar a day while having to deal with unsafe working conditions. The illicit trade of arms in Libyathrough social media is contributing to the funding of many civil wars in Africa.
With the supportof the African Union as well as the cooperativeness
