Ten years ago, the International Labor Organization (ILO) established June 12 as World Day Against Child Labor. The ILO, an agency of the United Nations, says on its website: "Hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, violating their rights." The World Day Against Child Labor was launched as a way to highlight the plight of these children and support governments and social organizations in their campaigns against child labor. [37 photos]
The rough hands of an Afghan child, at the Sadat Ltd. Brick factory, where some children work from 8am to 5 pm daily, seen on May 14, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Child labor is common at the brick factories where the parents work as laborers, desperate to make more money enlisting their children to help doing the easy jobs. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
- Adam Thierer
- Afghanistan
- Alaa al-Marjani
- Andrew Biraj
- Andrew Cohen
- Anne-Marie Slaughter
- Bachpan Bachao Andolan
- Baghdad
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Bihar
- Bolivia
- Brian Fung
- Buriganga River
- Burma
- Burmese government
- Busy Coffee Shops
- Caitlin Flanagan
- Cambodia
- Central America
- Cerro Rico hill
- Charlie Wells
- Child labour
- child miners
- Childhood
- Childhood Movement
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- Daniel Berehulak
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- International Labor Organization
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- Latin America
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- Mad Men
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- New Delhi
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- Paula Bronstein
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- Peter Orszag
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- Time
- United Nation Childrens Fund
- United Nations
- United States
- Uttar Pradesh
- work site
- Yangon
- Yangonk
- YouTube
Coal occupies a central position in modern human endeavors. Last year over 7000 megatons were mined worldwide. Powerful, yet dirty and dangerous, use of coal is expanding every year, with 2010 witnessing a production increase of 6.8%. Around 70 countries have recoverable reserves, which some estimates claim will last for over a hundred years at current production levels. Mining for coal is one of the world's most dangerous jobs. While deadliest in China, where thousands of miners die annually, the profession is still hazardous in the West and other regions as well. Our mining and use of coal accounts for a variety of environmental hazards, including the production of more CO2 than any other source. Other concerns include acid rain, groundwater contamination, respiratory issues, and the waste products which contain heavy metals. But our lives as lived today rely heavily on the combustible sedimentary rock. Over 40% of the world's electricity is generated by burning coal, more than from any other source. Chances are that a significant percentage of the electricity you're using to read this blog was generated by burning coal. Gathered here are images of coal extraction, transportation, and the impact on environment and society. The first eight photographs are by Getty photographer Daniel Berehulak, who documented the lives of miners in Jaintia Hills, India. -- Lane Turner (48 photos total)
22-year-old Shyam Rai from Nepal makes his way through tunnels inside of a coal mine 300 ft beneath the surface on April 13, 2011 near the village of Latyrke, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. In the Jaintia hills, located in India's far northeast state of Meghalaya, miners descend to great depths on slippery, rickety wooden ladders. Children and adults squeeze into rat hole like tunnels in thousands of privately owned and unregulated mines, extracting coal with their hands or primitive tools and no safety equipment. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
- Afghanistan
- afghanistan africa
- Ahmad Masood
- Ahmedabad
- Alexander Khudoteply
- Amit Dave
- Andrey Rudakov
- Anil Basnet
- Assam
- Australia
- Bandytown
- Bangladesh
- Belchatow
- body?s manufacturer
- Bokapahari
- Bosnia
- Bosnian government
- Boston Globe
- Botswana
- Carlos Barria
- Casper Star-Tribune
- cement plants
- child miners
- China
- China Daily
- Cilybebyll
- Coal
- coal dump site
- Coal in Australia
- Coal mining
- coal mining towns
- Coal power in China
- coal producer
- Colorado
- Daniel Berehulak
- Daniel Munoz
- Darek Redos
- David Gray
- deadly mining accident
- Disaster
- Eduard Korniyenko
- electricity
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Europe
- Family
- Fushun
- Gansu
- gas explosion
- gas leak
- Germany
- Getty Images
- green energy sources
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- Greenpeace
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- Heshan
- Huaibei
- Impulse
- Ina Fassbender
- India
- Indian Ministry of Defense/HO/AFP/Getty Images
- Indonesia
- iPhone
- Islamabad
- Islamic Republic of Iran
- Jaintia Hills
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- Jaintia Hills
- Jeff Gentner
- Jharkhand
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- Jiantia Hills
- Jimmy Murphy
- Jingtai
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- Kemerovo
- Kevin Frayer
- Lane Turner
- Latyrke
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The best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.
- 87th Infantry Regiment
- Abottabad
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Ahmed Farhan
- Ajdabiyah
- Al Faisaliyah Center
- Alex Wong
- Ali Salem el-Faizani
- Alpine FIS
- Andrea Bruce/The New York Times
- Andy Murray
- animal feeds producers
- Antonio Cromartie
- Argentina
- Army
- Ashley Gilbertson/The New York Times
- Assam
- Australia
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barack Obama
- Beatrice
- Ben Jawat
- Benghazi
- Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis
- Brazil
- Brega
- Britain
- Bryan Denton/The New York Times
- Cairo
- Calama
- California
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Captured
- Cathedral Church of St. John
- Catholic Church
- cement plants
- Chicago
- child miners
- Chile
- Chris Hondros
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- Cleveland State University in Cleveland
- Clive Rose
- coal mining towns
- Colorado
- Congress
- Dan Kitwood
- Dan Vardamis
- Daniel Berehulak
- David Ferrer
- David Guttenfelder
- David McNew
- Dean Mouhtaropoulos
- Domain Tennis Centre
- Doug Mills/The New York Times
- Ed Ou/The New York Times
- Edinburgh
- Egypt
- Elstorf
- Equine Centre
- Europe
- fatty proteins
- Festival of colors
- Flavia Pennetta
- Frank
- Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Gea/The New York Times
- Germany
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Ghana
- Glasgow
- Great Britain
- Gregory Shamus
- Guastavino Company
- Hanah Yaa Appiah
- Harles
- Heads of state
- Hizb ut-Tahrir
- Hobart
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hosni Mubarak
- Impulse
- India
- Isaac Brekken
- Italy
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Japan
- Jeff J Mitchell
- Jentsch
- Jinan Hussein Jweil
- Joao Pina/The New York Times
- John Moore
- Juan Pedrero Garcia
- Jujuy
- Julian Finney
- Justin Sullivan
- Kabul
- Kandahar
- Katie Orlinsky
- Kelly James
- Kofi Sylvester Dwemoh
- Kunduz Province
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lance Sergeant Matthew Else
- Las Vegas
- Latyrke
- Lee Mason
- Libya
- Libya
- Libyan government
- Lindsay Lohan
- London
- Los Angeles
- Loveland
- Majid Saeedi
- Manama
- Mansoura
- Marc Piscotty
- Mario Tama
- Mark Baker
- Marry Me
- Matthew Lloyd
- Meghalaya
- Melbourne
- Mewelde Moore
- Michael Appleton/The New York Times
- Michael Katsidis
- Middle East
- Misrata
- Misrata April
- Misurata
- Mitsubishi
- Miyagi
- Miyagi
- Muammar al-Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi April
- Natacha Pisarenko
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- natural gas facility burns
- Nederland
- Neena Sasaki
- Nepal
- New York
- New York
- New York City
- New York Jets
- New Zealand
- Newmarket
- Newmarket Equine Hospital
- Nicky Perry
- Nigeria
- Ohio
- Osama bin Laden
- Pakistan
- Paul Wright
- Paula Bronstein
- Pennsylvania
- Perton
- Peter Fill
- Peter Macdiarmid
- Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Politics
- primitive tools
- Ras Lanuf
- river Thames
- Riyadh
- Robert Guerrero
- RPG
- safety equipment
- Samantha Stosur
- San Francisco
- Saudi Arabia
- Scotland
- Scott Barbour
- Sendai
- Shyam Rai
- Sitra
- Spain
- Spring Festival
- Staten Island
- Stock photography
- Taliban
- Tennessee
- the New York Times
- the 2011 Australian Open
- The Human Condition
- Tunis
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Valentine's Day
- Valentine's Day
- Venice
- Vrindavan
- Warrick Page/The New York Times
- Washington
- Washington, DC
- Watertown
- White House
- William
- Willie Kennedy
- Windsor
- Wolverhampton
- Youssef Haddad
Rich Shulman writes
We are pretty used to reading about safety and environmental issues with coal mines in China and the United States. Now, we are learning about India, the world's third largest producer.
As the Indian magazine Frontline reported in 2006:
The haphazard mining has been taken to such absurd levels that Ladrymbai town is sitting on a rabbit warren of crisscrossing tunnels. Should a major earthquake occur in this seismic zone the entire town could cave in, residents fear. They have to negotiate mountains of coal lying all around them, blocking their doorways and polluting water sources and fields. Their children have nowhere to play, except on coal heaps. The destruction of tree cover has seen a fall in the level of groundwater and rainwater run-off. There is no access to clean drinking water.
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
A crane lifts miners out of a 300ft deep mine shaft, as they head out for their lunch break on April 13 near the village of Latyrke near Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. The Jaintia hills, located in India's far North East state of Meghalaya, miners descend to great depths on slippery, rickety wooden ladders. Children and adults squeeze into rat hole like tunnels in thousands of privately owned and unregulated mines, extracting coal with their hands or primitive tools and no safety equipment. Workers can earn as much as $150 per week or 30,000 Rupees per month, significantly higher than the national average of $15 per day. After traversing treacherous mountain roads, the coal is delivered to neighboring Bangladesh and to Assam from where it is distributed all over India, to be used primarily for power generation and as a source of fuel in cement plants. Many workers leave homes in neighboring states, and countries, like Bangladesh and Nepal, hoping to escape poverty and improve their quality of life. Some send money back to loved ones at home, whilst many others squander their earnings on alcohol, drugs and prostitution in the dusty, coal mining towns like Lad Rymbai. Some of the labor is forced, and an Indian NGO group, Impulse, estimates that 5,000 privately-owned coal mines in Jaintia Hills employed some 70,000 child miners. The government of Meghalaya refuted this figure, claiming that the mines had only 222 minor workers. Despite the ever present dangers and hardships, children, migrants and locals flock to the mines hoping to strike it rich in India's wild east.
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
22-year-old Shyam Rai from Nepal makes his way through a rat hole tunnels inside of a coal mine 300 ft beneath the surface on April 13 near the village of Latyrke near Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India.
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
Inebriated workers loiter at the site of a coal depot on April 14 in Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. Local schools in the area, providing free tuition, find it difficult to convince parents of the benefits of education, as children are seen as sources of income. The lure of the mines is stronger than that of the classroom.
- Assam
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- Geography
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