Eritrea: TV report exposes how gold extracted under conditions of forced labour ends up in Switzerland for refinery
On 30 August 2017, the Swiss national TV aired a major report focusing on a huge amount of raw gold extracted from Eritrea, under extremely abusive practices of forced labour and slavery, ending up in Switzerland for the final process of refinery... The TV report indicates that the only Swiss company known to have been refining gold originating from Eritrea is the Neuchâtel-based Metalor. All other major refineries of gold in Switzerland said they had not accepted any gold from Eritrea... The Canadian company, Nevsun, involved in the extraction of gold in Eritrea, is currently fighting a major legal battle in the Supreme Court of British Colombia in Canada, for alleged involvement or complicity in gross human rights violations (including crimes against humanity) committed in the Bisha Mining from which the gold was extracted... [T]he country’s gold is transported smoothly by Lufthansa from Asmara to Frankfurt. In the beginning of 2011, the first gold bars begun to arrive at their final destination, Switzerland.