VOA常速英语2013--坦桑尼亚儿童黄金矿工工作条件危险（在线收听）

Child Gold Miners Work in Hazardous Conditions in Tanzania 坦桑尼亚儿童黄金矿工工作条件危险

The international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, HRW, warned children as young as eight years old are working in small-scale gold mines in Tanzania, a job that is putting their health and even their lives at risk.

国际人权组织，人权观察HRW警告年仅八岁的儿童冒着身体健康甚至是生命的危险在坦桑尼亚的小规模金矿工作。

The dangers faced by the children were highlighted in a report recently released by HRW after an extensive investigation into the lives of children who work in small-scale and informal mines.

经过对在小规模，非正式的金矿工作的儿童的广泛调查，人权观察在最近发表的一篇报道中强调了这些儿童面临的危险。

“We found that there are thousands of children working in these small-scale gold mines and they do work in very hazardous conditions.  They risk  injury, for example, when working in very deep unstable pits which sometimes collapse.  And we interviewed some children who were actually themselves involved in accidents,” explained Juliane Kippenberg, a senior researcher for HRW.

“我们发现有成千上万的孩子在这些小金矿中工作并且他们工作的环境非常危险。他们面临着受伤的危险，例如：工作在一个非常深的不稳定的随时会崩倒塌的坑里，我们采访了一些的确发生意外受伤的孩子。”人权观察的高级研究员朱莉安基彭贝格解释说。

She also pointed out that the children carry loads that are far too heavy for their young age, causing damage to their spines, and the children are exposed to the toxic metal mercury when separating the gold from the ore. 

她还指出孩子们背的石头对于他们这个年龄段来说太重以至于对他们的脊椎造成伤害，而且他们还暴露在有毒的金属汞的环境中当他们从矿石中分离黄金的时候。

Mercury, Kippenberg said, is cheap and easy to use in small-scale mining, and is widely used throughout the world in informal mining operations.  With little training, the child miners mix the metal, using their bare hands into a ground up ore and then it becomes an amalgam of mercury and gold, which is then burned. The child workers unwittingly inhale the highly toxic vapor as it is burned.

基彭贝格说汞在小规模金矿开采中既便宜又容易，被广泛的应用于世界各地的非正规的矿开采中，几乎无需培训，孩子们用他们的赤裸的双手把汞和矿石混合起来，然后再进行燃烧。孩子们在它被燃烧的过程中不知不觉的吸入了有毒的汞蒸气。

“The burned mercury is highly toxic. The mercury attacks the central nervous system.  It can cause long term damage, including brain damage, heart conditions, lung conditions and a variety of other health problems.  It can cause life-long disabilities and it can potentially even kill,” said Kippenberg.

“燃烧的汞又剧毒。它会破坏中枢神经系统，它会造成长期的伤害包括脑损伤，心脏疾病，肺部疾病和各种其他的健康问题。它能造成终生残疾和潜在的致命。”基彭贝格说

The report also highlighted the fact that the majority of child miners investigated are orphans searching for a way to support themselves.

调查也强调了大部分的童工是为了维持他们自己生活的孤儿的事实。

The HRW report notes that Tanzania has laws prohibiting child labor in mining, though they are not enforced.

人权观察的报告指出，坦桑尼亚有法律禁止童工挖掘，虽然他们不会强制执行。

Kippenberg said there are some programs underway to help protect child laborers, but most of them are still being established, and often do not reach the orphans in the mining areas to the degree that they should.

基彭贝格说有某些程序正在进行中，以帮助保护童工，但大多数仍正在建立，并且往往没有达到他们应该在保护采矿领域孤儿的程度。

“There is really an enormous need for much stronger programming and much stronger support for these vulnerable children,” stated Kippenberg.

基彭贝格表示“这些弱势儿童实在是需要更强大的保护程序和更强大的支持。”

She added that HRW has been in contact with various Tanzanian ministries, in particular the ministries of labor; energy and minerals; health and social welfare; and the ministry of community development. The organization urges the government as well as the international community to support steps to end child labor in mining, as well as allocate additional resources towards ensuring more checkups and inspections in the informal mining sector.

她补充说，人权观察一直在接触各种坦桑尼亚部委特别是劳动部，能源和矿产，卫生和社会福利部和社区发展部。该组织敦促政府以及国际社会的支持措施来结束童工开采，以及增拨资源，以确保更多的正规开采部门的检查和巡查。