Ghana has announced the capture and extradition of 161 Chinese national on charges of illegal mining.
The 161 Chinese nationals were arrested for mining privately, a practice illegal in Ghana. Furthermore, Ghana is trying to curb all private mining, and move away from mining altogether now that it can rely on oil production and sales as a natural resource.
The mining involves the illegal extraction of gold from the rich veins that run through the Ghanian hills.
Just this month alone, the Ghanian authorities have arrested 181 Chinese in total.
Chinese foreigners usually sneak in the country illegally to mine illegally for gold in the country. But when foreigners enter its borders and pursue mining, they also cause conflicts with the locals over land disputes, and significantly pollute waterways with mercury, which is employed to separate the gold from the detritus. They also put miners at risk for injury, since often the illegal mines are not supervised or authorized by the local authorities.
Source: al Jazeera/ 6.7.13
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