In: Economics
What is meant by Blood Diamonds (or conflict diamond)?
Solution:-Blood Diamonds are commonly known as conflict diamond and its defined by the UN.Any diamondthat is mined in areas controlled by forces opposed to the legitimate, internationally recognized government of a country and that is sold to fund military action against that government.The very specific UN definition of blood diamonds was formulated during the 1990s, when brutal civil wars were being waged in parts of western and central Africa by rebel groups based in diamond-rich areas of their countries. Three specific conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone directed world attention to the destructive role of diamonds, though the problem arose in other countries as well. Rough diamonds mined in rebel-controlled areas were sold directly to merchants or were smuggled into neighbouring countries, where they were merged into stocks of legitimately mined diamonds and then sold on the open market. Proceeds from diamond sales were used to buy arms and war matériel for the rebel groups, some of which conducted extremely violent campaigns that brought great suffering to civilians.