In an article posted by Sasha Lezhnev, the Senior Policy Analyst at Enough Project explains why it is the time for the Obama administration to have a major impact and sanction smugglers:
This morning the Wall Street Journal published an exposé on the conflict gold trade from eastern Congo, which is worth an estimated $285-400 million per year. The article details the lucrative trade in conflict gold as it is transported from mines in eastern Congo to smugglers in Uganda and Burundi and then to jewelers and dealers in Dubai and India.
As the piece highlights, conflict gold is an increasingly important issue for jewelers and the gold industry, as there now exists a “shadowy chain of smuggled gold that stretches from the conflict zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the markets of Dubai and jewelry shops around the world.”
As the trade in conflict gold increases, now is the time for the Obama administration to have a major impact. The U.S. should work with the U.N. Security Council to place targeted sanctions on the owners of alleged gold smuggling companies in Congo, Uganda, and Dubai. This would deal a major blow to mafia-like smuggling networks and ease the suffering of gold miners on the ground.
Full article is available here.
