Tanzania: Hazardous Life of Child Gold Miners
(Dar Es Salaam, August 28, 2013) – Children as young as eight-years-old are working in Tanzanian small-scale gold mines, with grave risks to their health and even their lives, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Tanzanian government should curb child labor in small-scale mining, including at informal, unlicensed mines, and the World Bank and donor countries should support these efforts.
The 96-page report, “Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines,” describes how thousands of children work in licensed and unlicensed small-scale gold mines in Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer. They dig and drill in deep, unstable pits, work underground for shifts of up to 24 hours, and transport and crush heavy bags of gold ore. Children risk injury from pit collapses and accidents with tools, as well as long-term health damage from exposure to mercury, breathing dust, and carrying heavy loads. A 17-year-old boy who survived a pit accident told Human Rights Watch, “I thought I was dead, I was so frightened.”
For more information: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/28/tanzania-hazardous-life-child-gold-miners
The 96-page report, “Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines,” describes how thousands of children work in licensed and unlicensed small-scale gold mines in Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer. They dig and drill in deep, unstable pits, work underground for shifts of up to 24 hours, and transport and crush heavy bags of gold ore. Children risk injury from pit collapses and accidents with tools, as well as long-term health damage from exposure to mercury, breathing dust, and carrying heavy loads. A 17-year-old boy who survived a pit accident told Human Rights Watch, “I thought I was dead, I was so frightened.”
For more information: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/28/tanzania-hazardous-life-child-gold-miners
Related News
ENG
FRA
ESP
Thursday, 8 October 2026
US: Deportations to African Countries Not Their Own
Denied Due Process; Some Returned to Danger in Home Countries
ENG
FRA
Wednesday, 22 July 2026
DR Congo: Oil Company Operations Pose Grave Pollution Threat
Transparency Needed to Address Health Risks to Nearby Communities
ENG
Friday, 12 June 2026
Malawi: People with Albinism Face Discrimination, Barriers to Work
Stigma, Insecurity, Lack of Accommodations Undermine Rights