Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Walk into any high-end phone shop and you’ll find all the hallmarks of the luxury tech market: slick surfaces, cool lines, spotless screens. It’s a far cry from the toxic dust that children inhale as they mine the cobalt that powers the batteries we rely on for our phones and other portable electronic devices. These child miners, some as young as seven, live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), central Africa. Given that more than half the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC, that one fifth of it is extracted by artisanal (or informal) miners, and that around 40,000 children work in southern DRC where the cobalt is mined, there’s a chance that our phones contain child labour. Yet phone manufacturers – global brands including Apple and Samsung – won’t tell us if their cobalt supply chains are tainted by child labour. They have a responsibility to do so –to check for and address child labour in their supply chains, setting an example for the rest of the industry to follow. We all agree that our phones are indispensable, but we can’t dispense with the rights of the men, women and children whose labour powers our phones.There is lots of dust, it is very easy to catch colds, and we hurt all over.Dany, a 15-year-old cobalt miner in DRCI could only eat when I had enough money.Mathy, who was forced into mining at age 9, after her father lost his jobTHE NUMBERS50%+of the world’s cobalt comes from DRC20%of DRC’s cobalt comes from artisanal mines40,000child miners work in southern DRCDid children mine the materials in your phone?Child minersUNICEF estimates that about 40,000 boys and girls work as artisanal miners in southern DRC, many of who extract cobalt. Some artisanal miners use chisels and other hand tools to dig holes tens of metres deep, often without any permit. Others handpick rocks rich in cobalt ore at the surface. Although we met one boy who had gone down into the pits, most child miners work above ground, sifting through leftover rubble and rock, searching for bits of ore which they then sort and wash.Whether going into the holes – which are unfortified and prone to collapse – or sorting and sifting through discarded rock, the dangers are many. I worked in the mines because my parents couldn’t afford to pay for food and clothes for me. Papa is unemployed, and mama sells charcoal.Arthur 13, who was a miner from age 9 to 11Many children we spoke to told us that they were frequently ill. Inhaling cobalt dust can cause hard metal lung disease – a potentially fatal condition. Skin contact with cobalt can cause dermatitis – a chronic rash. Yet the
Add Comment