Have you ever wondered how the mobile phones we all carry in our pockets are made? And, above all, where do the raw materials needed to manufacture them come from? A report published last January by Amnesty International and Afrewatch has shed light on the dramatic realities hidden behind apparently harmless communication devices that have long since become part of everyday life.

Children in the harrowing Sky News video

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of children are forced to work in cobalt mines to extract the precious mineral, used in the manufacture of mobile phones and smartphones around the world. The two NGOs explained that in the south of the country, minors work "in dangerous conditions, alongside adults, on gruelling shifts." They added that on the issue "multinationals are turning a blind eye," while the government in Kinshasa describes itself as "the victim of a trade war."

Amnesty and Afrewatch traced the journey taken by cobalt in their report, discovering that it is sometimes extracted by children as young as seven. This information was recently confirmed by an investigation by Sky News Australia, which even reported children as young as four working in the mines. In a video published by the broadcaster — and "harrowing" would be an understatement — Dorsen and Richard, aged eight and eleven respectively, can be seen working in driving rain. Sacks loaded onto their backs, adults urging them to hurry, crumbling tunnels on the way to the mine. Red eyes, exhaustion, tears: "My mum is already dead, I'm forced to work all day. When I'm here I suffer so much."

Read also: Human rights and child labour. Smartphone and computer battery manufacturers in the dock

Sixteen multinationals in the NGOs' sights

The two NGOs explicitly accused sixteen multinationals — Ahong, Apple, Byd, Daimler, Dell, Hp, Huawei, Inventec, Lenovo, Lg, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Vodafone, Volkswagen et Zte — on the grounds that to date "they are unable to say with certainty that the cobalt they use has not been mined by children." According to the report, the extracted cobalt is bought by brokers who then resell it to Congo Dongfang Mining, a subsidiary of Chinese mining giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd. "The required checks on suppliers are not being carried out," explained Mark Dummett, a corporate and social responsibility specialist at Amnesty International.

An alternative exists: it's called Fairphone

In the mines of the former Katanga, in the southernmost region of Congo, around 40,000 minors work, according to a report published by Unicef in 2012. "They are exploited for up to twelve hours a day, for one or two dollars," Amnesty and Afrewatch further allege.
Anyone now wondering what can be done, in practical terms, to counter the tragedy of child miners should know that an alternative does exist: it is called Fairphone and can be purchased easily online.