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Diving into the darkness, frightening tales of young Filipino boys engaged in underwater mining from Human Rights Watch’s Juliane Kippenberg. With the anniversary of the Workers' Party taking place in Pyongyang this weekend, does anyone care? Plus more from the region.
Filipino children dive deep to find gold and sometimes death
Recently, a report released by Human Rights Watch detailed the operation of compression mines in the Philippines. Miners, sometimes as young as 8 or 9 years old, breath through a flimsy plastic tube and then are lowered into confined, dark holes over 20 meters deep in search of gold. This week Asia News Weekly host Steve Miller spoke with Juliane Kippenberg, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch’s Children’s Rights Division, to get the details.
Will he or won’t he launch?
This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the Workers' Party in the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea. There are plans in motion to host a major celebration, but does anyone really care? Plus what are the chances we’ll see the oft mentioned nuclear or missile test? Guest host Johanne Miller shares the latest from analysts.
The Asia Brief
Johanne Miller rounds out the podcast with more updates from the region. Up first, the Trans-Pacific Partnership passes and already some look to benefit from the leaked changes while others may pay a steep price. China clamps down on social media accounts after deadly letter bomb attacks last week in Guangxi Province. Plus the latest from Indonesia as it tries to deal with a record number of forest fires creating thick haze enveloping the region and how Thailand responded to computer activists opposed to a China-like firewall.
Have something to add to these or other stories? Share your opinion on Facebook, Twitter, or by messaging podcast@asianewsweekly.net.
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sensei258
People are so desperate for money in the PI that they are letting their children do this, but people want them to accept and help all those migrants from Syria? Better find them another place to go.
Peace Out
Thank you JT for FINALLY bringing up something concerning the (often fatal) abuse of children that is, for once, not sexual abuse.
Now for the conundrum of the week: If I were to send them good, child-sized diving equipment and trained instructors to educate would I be a saint for saving lives, or a devil for aiding the use of child divers?
Methinks the majority of readers are going to go for attempting some sort of domestic legislation combined with international pressure in an attempt and a dream to squash the practice in the long run, as kids die in the mines in the short run. And never mind that the lust for gold will surely only ensure that outside pressure will surely create even worse conditions.
wanderlust
There is a video showing the conditions that these kids endure, in so-called compressor diving. Even as a qualified cave diver with experience of zero-visibility diving in silted water, the conditions scared me. But worse than the physical environment, the use of mercury in the extraction of gold leads to sickness and neurological damage in the children.
See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnS622HjmtY