Blood Diamonds - article about Blood Diamonds

Blood Diamonds: The Dirty Side To Profiting In Precious Gemstones

Blood diamonds are sometimes also called conflict diamonds and refer to those diamonds that are from Africa and for which many people have died because of the violence involved in trying to control their trade. Money obtained from trading in blood diamonds are often used for illegal activities such as funding military and terrorist groups in many African countries including Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Efforts Are On To Stop The Trade

It is thus in the best interests of most people to refrain from trading in blood diamonds and in this regard, the United Nations and many South African countries are making efforts to stop their trade. They find out the origins of the rough diamonds that are available on the market, and prevent any blood diamonds from being refined if it is established that they are in fact blood diamonds.

Use is made of the Kimberley Process whose main aim is to track the rough diamonds entering these South African countries, and the people that ship diamonds must provide documentation to prove that their diamonds are not blood diamonds and do not emanate from a conflict country. In spite of the fact that not all countries subscribe to the Kimberly Process, it has still achieved remarkable results in stopping the trade.

The trade in blood diamonds must be stopped at all costs as it means that even children are used as slave labor to pan for and dig these beautiful rocks. So severe are the consequences for anyone involved in blood diamonds that it is not uncommon for a hand or arm to be amputated if someone is accused of stealing the diamonds that they are forced to pan for in the river. There is enough information available to show that as many as fifty thousand Africans have been killed and fifty percent of the population of Sierra Leone has been misplaced due to the trade in such diamonds that is booming at present.

It is not uncommon for blood diamonds to be valued at between four and fifteen percent of the total annual trade revenue of the world that is estimated to be as high as seven and a half billion dollars. With such high potential earnings, it is little wonder that the trade in blood diamonds is fraught with greed and avarice, and many jewelry shops could not care less where they obtain their diamonds, as long there are customers willing to pay for the diamonds so they can make great profits.

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