November, 2022
Congo is blood-stained and no one cares about it.
Cobalt is an essential component used by large tech companies for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, electronic devices, and electric cars.
However, Congo’s cobalt industry is directly linked to child labor, safety risks, environmental abuses, and corruption.
The story of the blood-stained devices that you hold on to right now started in Kasulo, Congo in 2014.
“Cobalt is why iPhones fit in your pocket and Teslas accelerate like rockets. In the global drive towards decarbonization, cobalt is a critical metal.”
A man was digging the backyard of his house, to create a pit for a new toilet. Approx eight feet down he hit an unusual rock(an ore) with his shovel. It was then he discovered that this ore can be refined into cobalt — one of the most important elements used in lithium-ion batteries.
As the demand for lithium-ion batteries has increased rapidly, so did the price of cobalt. The man who discovered cobalt in his backyard became wealthier and kept digging for more.
When the sample reached many different mineral traders, it emerged as a piece of breaking news and spread everywhere. Local residents were celebrating it as if they have discovered treasures of gold.
But the man had dug out the worth of probably more than ten thousand dollars of Cobalt from his backyard. It was when Congo’s three-quarters of the population was earning less than two dollars a day.
It became the national news in Congo, that their land has the most important element that is being used in technology these days.
Mostly all of the people in Kasulo started digging out their own houses for the Cobalt.
One sudden day government officials warned everyone that they can’t dig now, it will affect nature and their neighborhood.
But the Congolese did not stop because they were working for low wages. Now it was a miracle for them. Congolese have suffered a lot from decades of dictatorship, civil war, and corruption.
Within a month, the government took a decision to restrict digging for Cobalt. But local residents protested that the government has given all the big cities and forests to the big companies and now they want us to stop so that they can give our ancestor’s land to companies.
“No, we will not allow you to stop us from digging our own land.”
Cobalt was considered the wealth of Congo.
Things got changed when as usual, as governments do in almost every country, the Congo government forcefully acquired the land and allotted it to mostly Chinese companies. With huge trucks, locals’ houses were crushed, and eviction took place.
Extortion of Congolese
Nowadays in these big mines of Cobalt approx millions of Congolese are working as laborers. Among them, 40,000 are children as young as six years. They work in tunnels and open-pit mines dug by their hand, exposed to radiation, cave-ins, arrests, and even death.
This is really a deadly business taking place in Congo. It is foreign domination in one of the world’s poorest countries. These big mines are accused of corruption, poisoning the locals, and exploiting the resources with just little benefit for the government.
Child abduction cases are rising in the country, it is considered that the abducted children are sent to work in mines. The reason to abduct children is that they are small in size so easy to kidnap.
According to a recent study, in The Lancet, pregnant women had higher metal concentrations than ever reported. The study also found that the father working in those mines had fetal abnormalities in their children.
Because of the high demand for Cobalt, the prices have jumped more than 40%.
Many deaths occur during the collapse of the mine shafts.
Drugs and alcohol have been used in a very extensive way so that locals need more money to buy, and they waste their money.
Children working in the mines are often given some drugs to suppress their hunger so they can work longer without consuming food.
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The laborers work seven days a week and more than 12 hours a day. Their working condition is nothing good than the slavery era. Injuries are very common occur in laborers and may lead to death due to various untreated illnesses.
As the demand for Cobalt is increasing, so are the dangers that raise red flags for Congolese miners’ human rights.
The Chinese colonization:
Congo has a long history of relationship with China. During Leopold’s reign, Chinese workers were transported to Congo to build railway tracks. In the 19th century, Mobutu the supreme leader of Congo collaborated with the Chinese leader Mao Zedong. After this collaboration, Chinese people became the bosses in Congo. The Chinese government invested heavily in Congo for the mining of copper. In 2007, the Congolese government again collaborated on a six-billion-dollar infrastructure deal with China in the exchange Chinese to extract six hundred thousand tons of cobalt.
In 2007, Joseph Kabila made a six-billion-dollar infrastructure deal with China that included a provision allowing the Chinese to extract six hundred thousand tons of cobalt. The Chinese government has invested so extensively in congo that a huge amount of money is influencing the elections in Congo. China is also blamed for using its debt trap policy on Congo as it has increased Africa’s debt burden. It is considered to be a new form of colonization of China.
As of 2019, China extracted 83% of cobalt and 9% of copper, and Chinese companies control the majority of Congo’s copper and cobalt mining projects.
More than 70% of the world’s cobalt mining exists in Congo.
The Rising of Environmental Issues:
The high demand for Cobalt caused the suffering of Congo’s environment. The forests are cut down and building roads negatively impacts the environment and biodiversity.
Cobalt is considered to be a crucial component in global greening and the renewal of energy. While the extraction of cobalt is contributing to global warming on a large scale.
Cobalt minings produce high dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and consume substantial electricity.
Points to Rethink:
We all should be aware of technology’s impact on Congolese people and the environment.
Consumers should be aware of disposing of old cell phones and other gadgets powered by cobalt. The latest devices model come at the expense of others’ lives.
The Giant Companies:
Very prominent tech giants companies such as Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla were cited in a lawsuit over the deaths and serious injuries of child laborers in the cobalt mines. The attempt to a lawsuit against these big companies is good for the awareness of child labor exploitation and the deplorable work conditions.
“They take our copper and cobalt but when a child dies on their mine, they are nowhere to be found.”
Leopold
In 1885, Belgium’s king Leopold ruled Congo, he claimed that Congo is his private property. He brutally exploited Congolese for rubber. Approx 10 million Congolese were killed, and many lost their hands, then rubber was coming at the expense of someone’s life.
Now it is cobalt.
The tech giants projected the demand for Cobalt to grow 60% by 2025 to achieve their requirements.
References:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588#:~:text=Beneath%20Congo’s%20rich%20red%20earth,closest%20competitors%2C%20Australia%20and%20Russia.https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/the-dark-side-of-congos-cobalt-rushhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/world/china-congo-cobalt.htmlhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-23/one-of-world-s-biggest-cobalt-mines-is-at-stake-in-congo-fighthttps://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mininghttps://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251800/congo-cobalt-mines-china-child-laborhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588#:~:text=Beneath%20Congo’s%20rich%20red%20earth,closest%20competitors%2C%20Australia%20and%20Russia.