Employment of minors, health hazards, extremely low wages, family insecurity, non-compliance with the law: these are just some of the situations that mar mica mining. And yet it’s a lucrative sector: investors and businessmen alike are in it for the money.
Mica is a natural mineral used in many fields. It can be found in electronic equipment, paints and coatings, cosmetics, to name but a few. Many of us use mica in our everyday equipment. This same mica is mined in conditions that respect neither workers’ nor children’s rights.
Lucrative but disorganized!
In the Anosy region of northwest Madagascar, 88 companies and associations are involved in mica mining. The majority are based in Taolagnaro, while three are in Amboasary Atsimo. Six are owned by Chinese nationals, and extract mica directly or indirectly in Ampamakiambato and Esokaka, although they remain illegal and uncontrolled.
In 2019, exports of products including mica and other materials extracted from the subsoil are estimated at over 4,150,000,000 Ariary, for some 6,170,000,000 tonnes. China is the main destination for these products: 90% of goods exported from Anosy are shipped there. According to Cyprien Louis de Magloire Atombola, Regional Director of the Ministry of Mines for Anosy, 32 companies have mining permits in the region. In terms of figures, rebates paid into state coffers represented 58,197,374 Ariary in 2019. Export taxes amounted to 24,941,732 Ariary.
However, the contribution of the 228 professional collectors is unknown: the total amount of taxes levied on them is not communicated. Moreover, the activities of local operators are not formalized, so that they work without being officially declared to the local administration. The situation is such that the mica mining sector is handicapped by its disorganization and is plagued by numerous breaches of the law. As Cyprien Louis de Magloire Atombola points out: “To date, this is a non-regulated sector. Management has been difficult since the central government suspended the granting of new operating permits. As a result, even though our agents are raising awareness among these operators (to comply with the law, editor’s note), we are not yet in a position to apply the measures provided for by the law. We’re just preaching in the desert.
10,000 children and wages of less than 3 euros
An estimated 10,000 under-age children work in mica mining in Madagascar, representing half of all operators in this sector. Children, some as young as five, according to the joint report published by Terre des Hommes and the Center for Research on Multinationals (SOMO) in the third quarter of 2019. The pay is miserable: less than 3 euros a month, for very physical, extremely arduous and dangerous work, in furnace heat, and without any suitable equipment. Not to mention the malnutrition these small-scale farmers suffer all year round. And yet, Madagascar is the third country in the world to mine and export mica.
It’s in the village of Ampamakiambato, near Taolagnaro, that we meet Reziky and his family. All six members of the family work with stone: the parents, and the four children, the eldest of whom is 14, and the youngest, six. They live in a modest hut and work all day, extracting and breaking blocks of stone, then transporting the crushed pieces in buckets. “When we can work, banditry retreats because there’s work to be done. The men don’t have to steal to support their wives and children, “explains Reziky,” This stone work allows us to make a living. Someone comes to collect our stones and buys them from us. Families work together to sell mica. “It’s difficult to earn money from this work if you work alone. To get more money, we pool our stones, and the collectors come and load them onto their trucks”.
The choice between working or becoming a dahalo
None of the children attend school, not only because their parents don’t have the means to finance their education, but also because the school itself is located several kilometers from the village. “We want to go to school, but for now, we have to work with our parents and earn money,” explains one of the children. This lack of schooling is a worrying social problem. Firstly, the families are nomadic, and because they are often on the move, their children’s schooling is neither planned nor even envisaged. Secondly, there are virtually no schools in the vicinity of the quarries: the nearest schools are in the distant district of Amboasary Atsimo or in Betroka.
Thirdly, life in the quarries reveals chilling realities for the future of children, as explained by the regional director of the Ministry of Mines, Cyprien Louis de Magloire: “In these rural areas, adults decide to have lots of children. They don’t worry about giving them a decent life or sending them to school. Their aim is to ensure that these children grow up, so that they in turn can work and help their parents increase their income”. A number of projects are in the pipeline to combat this scourge, including the creation of mobile schools that could travel at the same time as these nomadic groups, “but we’re at the thinking stage, and implementation will be the responsibility of each department concerned”, explains the regional director.
Mica mining, the only source of income
“It’s an illusion to believe that we can put an end to the violation of children’s rights without a rapid and serious development policy from the state. Here, villagers have no other source of income than mica mining. Otherwise, they become highwaymen, especially the young men. We communicate massively on the subject (the subject of children’s rights, editor’s note), whereas most of the time, these communicators have no knowledge of the facts and realities in our sites”, comments an authority from the local forces of order, who wished to remain anonymous. The Governor of Anosy, Hatrefindrazana Jerry, shares this opinion, and claims to be in the process of identifying serious solutions for Anosy: “Let’s not forget that we can’t take drastic measures at the moment, as mica mining is the only source of household income, apart from banditry”. As for the few local economic operators who agreed to meet us during our visit to Anosy, they admitted to being aware of the existence of these child miners working in the mica quarries.
However, these operators feel they have no responsibility for the situation. One of them, who wished to remain anonymous, shares his point of view: “We are ready to comply with the law, and accept to contribute to the respect of children’s rights. But don’t forget that this is above all a local way of life. Besides, children don’t go to school because there are no schools. Without school, the choice is between going to work or becoming a dahalo. Fine words are not enough to solve this local problem. We need more thought, serious and effective solutions”. Despite these opinions, the community of economic players in mineral extraction in Anosy did not wish to meet our journalists. Communications and e-mail exchanges ended with the same response: “You can’t force us to meet you”, as the representative of these Anosy operators put it.
Unprotected mining, a constant danger
In Taolagnaro, mica mining has no significant social or economic impact. The capital of the Anosy region is a site dedicated solely to mica processing. But for small-scale quarry operators, the negative consequences are disastrous. Health is the first to suffer: mica dust is particularly volatile and spreads everywhere. The factories that process the mica dump the waste and mica flakes in a busy area. The regional director of the Ministry of Public Health points to the effects of the poor management of this mica exploitation chain on the well-being of the population: “In Taolagnaro, as in the extraction sites, we can already see the after-effects of the spread of these mica flakes on people. None of them are wearing protective equipment for their face, mouth and nose. Children are increasingly vulnerable.
The most vulnerable, because the most exposed. Children, because of their small size, are sent underground to extract the mica. The youngest are enlisted to sort the minerals. The report by the NGO Terre des Hommes describes the aches and pains in the backs and heads endured by these children due to the high heat in the galleries and dehydration. Very often, these children emerge from the basements with sores on their fingers and feet.
In February 2020, a dialogue was initiated between economic operators and government representatives in Taolagnaro and Antananarivo. The aim of these meetings was to overhaul working methods and conditions in the Anosy mica mining sector, with a view to better protecting workers and respecting children’s rights. The 88 Anosy companies and associations involved in mica extraction were also asked to comply with the law. Concrete action is still awaited.
Cover photo source: Sarah Tétaud/RFI
