A small village in the region Ilaka in Madagascar is the home for a sapphire site and it is the source of half the production of sapphires in the world. Illegal miners work here in conjunction with large-scale productions.

All sapphire businesses here operate almost without any control, in an atmosphere of “Wild West” with its lawlessness and crime.
According to official studies, 19 thousands of children out of 21 who live there are working in sapphire mines.

Source: boston