Not always, in South Africa and Namibia mining diamonds it is a massive very well paid industry.
Especially if you are off shore.
Diamonds are used in industry on a massive scale as well.
Unfortunately though, buying ANY diamonds regardless of where they are mined creates more demand and in turn will create more exploitation. I just think dimaonds are completely over valualed...just my opinion.
And because they are used in other industries does not mean I feel that I should go out and buy them...
Just a few excerpts from an article about "clean and dirty" diamonds:
-the deadly diamond trade has gone on for decades, in some cases, centuries, in the African countries of Angola, Sierra Leone, and Democratic Republic of Congo where diamonds are linked to widespread human rights abuse. Sometimes it happens at the hands of insurgent groups, who use diamonds to fuel atrocities, and sometimes it’s an unscrupulous quest for diamonds at the hands of governments."
In all, an estimated 20 million people have been killed or uprooted from their homes over dirty diamonds, and other natural resources in war-torn regions of Africa. Children are often used to mine diamonds in inhumane conditions.
“Individuals inside the diamond mines often experience human rights abuses by actually doing the mining. They’re standing in knee-deep water for days at a time,” Cadena said. There are also the dangerous conditions of breathing, eating, and sleeping toxic fumes deep within the mines. Before considering color, clarity and carat, Amnesty International asks diamond consumers to check out “conflict free” diamonds. “When conflict diamonds are sold, that means the money doesn’t go back into the country, it goes directly to insurgents,” she said. “Countries around the world are losing tens of millions of dollars that could be put back into their own economies.”
Cadena’s work has been specifically geared toward diamond exploitation, and she noted that the United States accounts for 65 percent of the world’s diamond purchases. “Wal-Mart sells more diamonds than any other jeweler in this country,” she said. “They haven’t signed on to jewelers for clean diamonds. We have not worked with them directly.”
(New American Media) full article here:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=3b979941c75c56858f961a9bd9c176ba-