Indonesian islands pay price for global smartphone rush
- 8 years ago
Deep beneath the murky ocean off Bangka, Paci breathes through a thin plastic tube as he dredges the seabed for tin, a vital component inside smartphones and tablets that's brought riches and ruin to his island home. One-third of the world's tin comes from the Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung, where thousands of illegal miners like Paci risk serious injury and death at the very bottom of an opaque global supply chain.