Nevsun in Eritrea: careless or weak company ?

One month ago Nevsun Resources Ltd., a Canadian mining firm, has been accused of modern slavery in Eritrea. That is not the first time that such allegations are made against the company. Indeed, despite numerous denials, critics are recurrent. And, on a general manner, mining firms are often accused of abuse in Africa or in South America. A few weeks ago, I've already wrote an article about the international protests against Rio Tinto, as well as an article about Vedanta and its ambiguous attitude in India. Today, I'd like to highlight the abuses committed in the Bisha mine and the attitude of Nevsun.

Nevsun sets up in Eritrea
Eritrea is a country of the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. It is little say that the country does not enjoy a good reputation: its nickname is the "North Korea of Africa". The country is a one-party State where national legislative elections are repeatedly postponed. According to many NGOs whom Human Right Watch, the government is considered among the worst in the world in terms of corruption, and Walk Free ranked the country in the top 10 where vulnerability to modern slavery is the highest. This is for the framework. During a long time Eitrea remained very poor, but it has experienced considerable growth in recent years, indicated by an improvement in Gross Domestic Product of 7,5% in 2012. The growth was for a great part due to increased agricultural output and the expansion of the mining industry along with increasing gold prices. Here is the problem : the mining industry globally increases the country's revenues, but it is devastating for those who work there.
Yet, when the company set up over there in 2008, the future looked pretty good. In November 2007, Nevsun and the government signed an agreement for the company's massive Bisha project. Bisha was one of the largest undeveloped gold and base metal deposits in Africa, with 1 million ounces of gold, 9 million ounces of silver, 747 million pounds of copper and 1 billion pounds of zinc, ie several billion euros for the local economy. But the promises were quickly flown.

A government causing problems
When Nevsun arrived in Eritrea it took a big risk as its entire portfolio was made up of one single project in Eritrea : the Bisha project. With such an obligation of success, the company started pretty well, giving a median monthly salary of about 300 dollars to its employees... Unfortunately, it was a first mistake. Indeed the government (which owned 40% of the Bisha mine) estimated that wages were too high compared to the ones of average workers. Thus, it required it it to be reduced by half, and Nevsun obeyed without protest. Well, we could be tempted to say that Nevsun had no choice, but other facts and declarations clearly show its attitude.
In January 2013, Human Rights Watch published a report titled Hear No Evil, in which it revealed Nevsun's weakness and its consequences. First example : the Eritrean forced the Canadian firm to choose Segen Construction Company as its principal contractor for the Bisha project. "It’s not like we were doing this voluntarily, but it’s more of a commercial arrangement" said Cliff Davies, the President and CEO of Nevsun. The problem is that Segen flouts without hesitation the rights of its employees, employees who are more like slaves than anything else.

We can’t control what the government does with it funds, nor do I think we should

Cliff Davis, president and CEO of Nevsun

Nevsun doesn't even care about what its partner does
The first mistake Nevsun committed is that it didn't check with who it was engaged in business. “No due diligence was performed at the time of initially contracting with Segen Construction with respect to its human rights practices." Some could say that's a stupid and terrible mistake but now that Nevsun realized who really was its partner, it doesn't seem to care. That's more annoying and it makes the company an accomplice in what happens. Two weeks ago, a new scandal highlighted Nevsun after three Eritreans refugees filed a lawsuit against the 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 (25 euros a month !) and living in paltry conditions.
Nobody's saying that Nevsun is directly exploiting people and that it brought thousands of workers to work for a ridiculous pay. But the thing is Nevsun owns 60% of the mine but it prefers to ignore what is happening rather than protest and risk angering its partners. But, as with all crimes, when a whitness refuses to act, it is as if he was an accomplice. So, in the best case Nevsun is a coward and guilty company, and at worst it is a slaver.

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