Natural Resource

A natural resource is a material or substance that is derived from the environment and has economic value. Examples of natural resources include minerals, forests, water, and wildlife. These resources are often exploited for commercial purposes, such as mining, logging, or agriculture. The extraction and use of natural resources can have significant impacts on the environment and local communities. In the context of human trafficking, natural resources can be a factor that contributes to the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable populations. For example, trafficking may occur in industries such as mining or agriculture, where workers are subjected to hazardous conditions, low pay, and debt bondage. Efforts to combat human trafficking must take into account the role of natural resources in creating conditions of vulnerability and exploitation.

 

The crushing burden of debt | The Manila Times
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The crushing burden of debt | The Manila Times

There is one thing above others that humans can never escape and that is the burden of debt. Almost every one, except the millionaires, has a burden of debt. The hugely rich, however, can be in debt, too. Everyone seems to owe someone. There are different kinds of debt such as the “debt of honor”…

Snoqualmie to use prison labor in WASHINGTON STATE public works department
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Snoqualmie to use prison labor in WASHINGTON STATE public works department

Unable to find seasonal public works employees this summer, the City of Snoqualmie has turned to correctional inmates — signing an agreement with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) that will pay inmates less than $2 an hour. While the city has no control over the pay-rate, city councilmembers, in a 6-1 vote, approved a…

Thousands need urgent help as gold rush fuels clashes in northern Chad – ReliefWeb
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Thousands need urgent help as gold rush fuels clashes in northern Chad – ReliefWeb

N’Djamena — Thousands of people are believed to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in Northern Chad following deadly clashes between gold miners in Tibesti province near the border with Libya last month. “According to official government sources, nearly 10,000 Chadian and international mine workers have evacuated the Kouri Bougoudi gold mines following the…

Venezuela: UN report highlights criminal control of mining area, and wider justice concerns
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Venezuela: UN report highlights criminal control of mining area, and wider justice concerns

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that Venezuelan authorities had failed to investigate crimes linked to the industry, in the region of Arco Minero del Orinoco, including extortion, amputation and miners being buried alive. Criminal groups exercise control over a large number of mining operations there, where children as young as nine have been seen…

Wildlife and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human security
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Wildlife and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human security

The planet is experiencing alarming levels of species loss caused in large part by intensified poaching stimulated by a greatly expanding demand for animals, plants, and wildlife products. The rate of species extinction, now as much as 1,000 times the historical average and the worst since the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, deserves…