Nevsun's CEO Cliff Davis on Eritrea: I have nothing to declare

Nevsun's CEO Cliff Davis on Eritrea: I have nothing to declare

He didn’t say that literally but he did imply that it’s got nothing to do with Nevsun Resources - his mining company.  He is the CEO.

Where will this culture of denial end?

It’s not that complicated.  The Government of Eritrea is in denial and so are hundreds of thousands of Eritreans and governments in the western world who only react when the media, like any tsunami, hits the pages on the screen and then, everyone wakes up to scrounge on whatever is left.

We talk about prevention is better than cure.  Has the cure evolved to become more profitable?

“I read as much as anybody else reads. There’s various reports from various sources and I’m not in a position to verify them anyway,” said Davis. “I’m certainly not directly aware (of human rights violations) at all. All I’ve got is the same access that you have with respect to Internet and articles.” says Cliff Davis, president and CEO of Vancouver-based Nevsun Resources Ltd. (a mining company) on working conditions and gross human right violations in Eritrea.

When migrants from various parts of the world arrive, land or suddenly settle on established communities, there is bound to be friction of a kind that might take some time.

What is strange is that when a limited company like Nevsun Resources dived into the Eritrean underground space of exploration for gold, copper and zinc, it had already failed to do the preliminary work into the credibility of who owns the land.

They could, would and should have found out long before if the Government of Eritrea was a reliable partner.

Has the Government of Canada or Nevsun Resources figured out why thousands of Eritreans are applying for asylum in Canada?  Why are governments, global corporations and some unaware Canadians complaining about immigrants from Eritrea when Canadian companies like Nevsun Resources are doing a deal with a totalitarian African regime that is literally driving its own citizens out of the country?

One could go on and on and talk about human trafficking from Eritrea to the Sudan and Sinai... and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Where is the logic in all that?

Cliff Davis would probably say, “We as a company are responsible for what we can control … We can’t control what the government does with its funds, nor do I think we should.”

Well, there you have it in a nutshell.

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