I culled this article from the Times. Some of these diamonds pass through
Yundum airport to get to their final destination. Enjoy!!
THE denizens of three small backstreets, hidden away behind Antwerp's elegant
Central Station, are accused of fuelling two of Africa's bloodiest and
longest-running wars.
The secretive dealers of Hovenierstraat, Vestingstraat and Rufstraat in this
Belgian port city handle 80 per cent of the world's rough diamonds. The
streets are the heart of the world's diamond trade - a trade now charged with
wilfully perpetuating the conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone by purchasing
their smuggled and illicit gems.
It is there that Angola's Unita rebels finance their war machine by covertly
selling diamonds in defiance of a United Nations embargo, according to a UN
report released yesterday.
The report blames "extremely lax controls" that "perhaps even encourage
illegal activity", and says the Belgian authorities have singularly failed to
crack down on "suspect brokers, dealers and traders - virtually all of whom
appear to be able to travel freely and operate without hindrance".
Since 1992 Unita has earned almost £2 billion from diamonds, enabling it to
prosecute a war that has cost 500,000 lives. Antwerp is also the principal
destination for smuggled gems from Sierra Leone, where government and rebel
forces are essentially now fighting for control of the diamond fields.
Antwerp is a "diamond smuggler's dream", where "even in the most overt cases
of questionable behaviour little is done", according to another recent report
by a coalition of pressure groups called Partnership Africa Canada (PAC).
"The Belgian diamond industry - and apparently the Belgian Government - are
basically not interested in the source of diamonds or how they get to
Belgium," the report says.
Since 1991 the war in Sierra Leone has claimed more than 75,000 lives,
created 500,000 refugees, and displaced half the country's 4.5 million
population. "Diamonds have fuelled Sierra Leone's conflict, destabilising the
country for the better part of three decades, stealing its patrimony and
robbing an entire generation of children, putting the country dead last on
the UN's Human Development Index," the report adds.
The two reports are extremely embarrassing for the young, liberal-led Belgian
Government, which takes pride in its support for human rights, and are highly
discomforting for an industry that fears Western consumers could boycott
diamonds just as they boycotted fur in the 1980s.
They are rushing to address the charges, but critics fear their measures
could prove mere window-dressing. Diamonds account for 7 per cent of
Belgium's exports. "They are terrified of driving the market elsewhere," said
Johan Peleman, director of Antwerp's International Peace Information Service.
"They turn a blind eye a lot. They are scared to crack down." Antwerp's tiny
diamond district contains 1,500 registered dealers, who do more than £12
billion of business a year.
In Antwerp's defence, diamonds are easy to smuggle and there is no sure way
of determining their origin, but the Belgian system is wide open to abuse.
Firstly, the authorities deem the diamonds' country of origin to be from
where they were imported, not where they were mined. Unita thus channels most
of its diamonds through other African countries. Secondly, the industry
largely polices itself. Imports and exports are checked on the Government's
behalf by experts from the Diamond High Council, which represents the
dealers. The PAC calls that an "invitation to corruption".
The council yesterday rejected the UN's allegations and claimed Antwerp's
controls were second to none. The Belgian Government insists that "trade in
diamonds only generates part of the total conflict funding" and that "only a
very small percentage of trade can be linked with current conflicts".
Together they are promising a range of measures, including an improved
diamond certification system, more rigorous customs inspections, and allowing
UN observers into the council.
But Mr Peleman believes nothing will really change until Antwerp's archaic
diamond industry finally opens up. What is required is a "mental-ity change",
he said
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