Next time you landscape your garden, think of the children...
There was a detailed article about this in the Sunday Telegraph today, and it will be featured on Ch 7 news tonight. This is from the Oxfam website;
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<H1>Child Labour and Kota Stone: Channel 7 Investigation
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Tonight Channel 7 will expose the shocking reality that Kota Stone, commonly used in Australian homes and buildings, is being produced by children in horrific conditions.
Channel 7 travelled to Rajasthan, India with Oxfam Australia?s partner the Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC). The MLPC work to improve conditions for millions of mine workers in Rajasthan whose rights are being denied.
There are approximately 400,000 children working in stone mines in Rajasthan, India in conditions that are defined by the International Labour Organisation as among the worst forms of child labour because it?s extremely dangerous.
Children make up 15% of mine workers in Rajasthan ? they?re paid minimal wages but their families are so desperate for any money they have no alternative but to put their children at risk. This work can cause serious injuries and disease. And without the opportunity to attend school, they?re denied a hopeful future.
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Children as young as FIVE are working in this stone quarrys, in heat of excess of 40 degrees from 7.30am to 6pm at night with little or no break as they cannot work as fast as the adults. They get paid $1.20 per day for their efforts.
