Visit the new AsenaTv Website

https://asenatv.com

Eritreans sue Canadian mining firm Nevsun over human rights abuses

Three Eritrean refugees have filed a lawsuit against a Canadian mining firm over claims that it conspired with the Eritrean government to force them and other conscripted workers to work at a copper mine for

Three Eritrean refugees have filed a lawsuit against a Canadian mining firm over claims that it conspired with the Eritrean government to force them and other conscripted workers to work at a copper mine for long hours while receiving little pay and living in squalid conditions.

The men, who now live in an Ethiopian refugee camp, say they were conscripted into the Eritrean army before being made to work “unfairly long hours without enough salary, proper medical services, good shelter [or] enough food”. They worked for the Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC), which is operated jointly by Vancouver-based Nevsun Resources and Segen Construction, an Eritrean state-owned contractor.

Eritrea’s harsh national service programme, which requires all citizens over the age of 18 to enlist in the military or work for state-run companies, was linked to the exploitation of workers in the country’s mining sector in a 2013 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Eritrean government holds a 40% stake in Bisha mine (pdf).

One of the refugees involved in the lawsuit, Gize Yebeyo Araya, said through his lawyers that he worked at Bisha until March 2011. He said Segen paid him less than 500 nakfa (£20) a month to dispose of dangerous chemicals, including sulphur, that were generated during the mining process. “[My] work consisted of laying a large plastic sheet on the ground to hold the toxic chemical waste,” he said. “The heat was extreme when working. I got serious burns from the sun. I still have the scars from some of these burns on my face. Because of these conditions, and because of how little we were fed, I was always weak and exhausted.”

Foreign mining firms eyeing Eritrea’s mineral reserves are in danger of “walking into a minefield of human rights problems”, the HRW report said. Nearly the entire workforce is enrolled in the country’s national service programme.

At Bisha, Gize said workers were separated from foreign staff at the mine. “We were constantly being watched by security personnel and were strictly ordered by our commanders not to tell anyone that we were conscripts.”

In response to HRW’s report, Nevsun commissioned an independent report (pdf) into working conditions at Bisha. “Since 2009, BMSC has implemented screening procedures and dialogue with the management of its main suppliers, contractors and subcontractors to implement the prohibition against using national service programme workers at the Bisha mine,” the report said.

Nevsun’s CEO, Cliff Davis, said: “We are confident that the allegations [in the lawsuit] are unfounded. Based on various company-led and third party audits, the Bisha mine has adhered at all times to international standards of governance, workplace conditions, and health and safety. We are committed to ensuring that the Bisha mine is managed in a safe and responsible manner that respects the interests of the local communities, workers, national governance, stakeholders, and the natural environment.”

Despite the denials that conscripted labour is used at Bisha, Gize said it was “openly known” that Eritrean staff at the mine were soldiers. The Canadian company should have insisted on better working conditions for local workers, Gize said. “Nevsun … could have given us protection from such exploitation, but it never did. It is due to this reason that I felt I needed to sue Nevsun.”

Canada-based lawyer Joe Fiorante, who is representing the Eritreans, said: “We assert that Nevsun should be held accountable for the tremendous harm suffered not just by the plaintiffs but all those coerced by its local contractor into working at the Bisha mine site.”

Nevsun’s refusal to acknowledge the use of conscripted labour at Bisha casts doubts on the legitimacy of its efforts to have a positive impact on the country, said Chris Albin-Lackey, author of HRW’s report. “Nevsun claims to have put new systems in place that will prevent any future use of forced labour at its mine site. It will be hard to take any of that very seriously if the company reacts to this lawsuit by insisting that the problem never existed to begin with.”

In the first case of its kind, another Canadian mining firm, Hudbay Minerals, is facing legal action in an Ontario court (pdf) over claims that widespread human rights abuses were carried out at its mine in Guatemala. Hudbay responded to the allegations saying they were without merit and detailing its former operations in the Central American country. Yet the case could set a legal precedent that holds Canadian companies accountable for human rights abuses carried out at their overseas mines, according to Renu Mandhane, director of the University of Toronto’s international human rights programme.

“That is a very significant finding and bodes well for the plaintiffs in this action [against Nevsun],” said Mandhane. “I do think that Canadian courts are going to see more and more of these types of cases if the government does not begin to regulate our companies more closely.”

Source:TheGuardian

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
10 COMMENTS
  • Ertrawi December 9, 2014

    Crime against Eritrean people.

  • Simerrr2012 December 10, 2014

    What goes around comes around. Higdef, you can hide your crime for some time but not for all time.The time has come to pay the price. We will hold you accountable for all crime you comit against our poor people.

  • Zeray December 10, 2014

    I have not seen the law suit, but according to this report the Eritrean government (Seghen Construction) should also be included in the law suit. That would help expose of the other thousands conscripts that labored to profit the Canadian & Eritrean companies. The way this is going Nevsun Resources will just deny and point fingers to Seghen Construction.

    • Brhane December 11, 2014

      Segen iternational ricogention sle zeyblay kem kampani kitkesa aykaalni eyu ab kindia mengsiti higdef eyu sebat kem gilatat esirh kem zelo zikises.

  • Ertrawi December 10, 2014

    Definitely the guys behind this sue are not Eritreans to me

  • Brhane December 11, 2014

    Higdf hasad nhizibi eritrea btimet amberkiku eshi goitay issaias endabele kigezio medebu sle zikone. Wala ezen campanitat beti nay africa standard demoz 400 wey 500 dollar kikefla ente tegediden. Hassad sirat issaias gn ab gzie natu gziat timet ember kemzi ainet ekul amozi hizu ngezieu ziatu eritreaw kirie sle zeydeli. Tekalatifu nkubania hintsa segen b hidiawian 300 wey 400 dollar zikifelu kimelia eyu.

  • henok December 11, 2014

    Haseka dembes ab zlemlemelu dyu zbehal. Hasewti kendi kelos trkemrki ajewjew tblu. Be productive and use your time

  • Mulue December 11, 2014

    No Justice; Freedom;Equality;Liberity in Eritrea!!!!! All are banned !!!! Unless we will be led by the right leader belongs to us and elected democraticaly by us ; all these God’s gift are banned by these outsider dectators that they are not belonged to us!!!!!!!!

  • Amanuel December 12, 2014

    How can any sensible Eritrean try to cripple Eritrean Economy no-matter how much he/she hates Issayas.

    I don’t care about Issayas, but Eritrea does not equate to Issayas. I would rather see rich Issayas dictating Eritrea than poor Issayas. Compare Libya vs North Korea. I would go with Libya. It’s not that I support and like dictatorship, but come one there are other ways of fighting dictator. This act is actually helping Issayas by proving the opposition don’t really care about the people, all they care is to get rid of Issayas and God knows what they do next.

  • Merhe December 14, 2014

    Not only is there such slavery, but this company should also be suid over employee rights in its own.
    It has been a well known fact of the Eritrean employees in Nevsun are payed far low than what is payed to their counterpart white employees.
    I think this should be addressed too. This company will have a debt in its back for its future lawsuit for this will be forgotten in history.

    ss.

Post a Reply to Ertrawi Cancel Reply