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Child labour isn't a thing of the past – it props up modern colonialism across the world today
Morning Star international editor ROGER McKENZIE says the richest countries still depend on the super-exploitation of the world's children for their wealth

SMALL children are being forced to dig down into the ground with the most rudimentary tools until they find a seam of precious metal. Once they find that seam they then mine it and bring it to the surface in buckets or sacks.

They do all of this so that the people of the global North can continue to live in the manner to which we have become accustomed and already rich companies get even richer.

They do all of this if they are lucky enough to survive the collapse of the tiny mine shafts they have constructed. Even if they do survive with their limbs intact they are not deterred from going back to the mine because they have no choice.

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