According to Amnesty International, the cobalt used in batteries for electronic devices and cars is extracted and processed in part by minors.
It is found in every lithium-ion battery we use in smartphones, computers and electric vehicles. It is cobalt, a mineral that for the most part comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mineral is extracted from mines where children are frequently employed, collecting, cleaning and transporting it.
This is what the latest Amnesty International report, "This is what we die for", produced in collaboration with the NGO Afrewacht, has revealed. The human rights organisation has been working and investigating in Congo since 2011, where it has visited numerous mines and interviewed dozens upon dozens of children.
Read also: I bambini nelle miniere del Congo per fabbricare i nostri cellulari
The investigation traced the entire cobalt supply chain from start to finish — from the mines themselves all the way to the Chinese mining giant Zheijang Huayou Cobalt Ltd, and to the three battery manufacturers: Ningbo Shanshan and Tianjin Bamo in China, and L&F Materials in South Korea.
The batteries produced there end up in the electronic devices of the world's leading smartphone and PC manufacturers: Ahong, Apple, Byd, Daimler, Dell, Hp, Huawei, Inventec, Lenovo, Lg, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Vodafone, Volkswagen and Zte.
When asked by the organisation to confirm that they sourced cobalt from these companies, many were unable to provide an answer, while others "denied sourcing" the mineral. However, as Amnesty reports, "None of the 16 companies was able to provide detailed information."
The report notes that the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, battered for decades by poverty and civil wars. Small artisanal mines are often the only means of survival for entire families.
I spend practically 24 hours in the tunnels. I arrive early in the morning and leave the following morning. I rest inside the tunnels.
Paul, 14 years old
The children's own voices, gathered in the report, bear this out: "I spend practically 24 hours in the tunnels. I arrive early in the morning and leave the following morning. I rest inside the tunnels," says Paul, 14 years old, an orphan who has been working in the mines since the age of 12. "My adoptive mother wanted to send me to school; my adoptive father decided to send me to the mines instead." There is also the testimony of Arthur, 13 years old: "I worked in the mines because my parents couldn't afford to buy me food and clothes. My dad is unemployed; my mum sells charcoal."
A global market with no oversight whatsoever, indispensable to the entire consumer electronics supply chain, yet one that claims dozens upon dozens of victims — people subjected to appalling and inhumane health and working conditions.