In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, civil society in Kolwezi is concerned about the continuing persistence of school-age children in particularly artisanal cobalt mining sites. Despite protective legislation, the fight against child labor in mines is not yet achieving the desired results. The Provincial Ministry of Mines says that attempts are being made to combat this phenomenon.
From our special correspondent in Kolwezi,
A raffia bag over his shoulder, 11-year-old Mica walks the roads in the Kasulo district of Kolwezi in search of cobalt. In this poor neighborhood, artisanal cobalt mining made in private plots.
Mica’s day starts quite early. “I leave the house between 7 and 8. I cross the roads and plots where cobalt is extracted and I pick up the remnants of cobalt that diggers have left. Sometimes they demand money from us, we give them 500 francs and they let us collect the cobalt leftovers, Mica explains.
Heir is another child working at this illegal Kasulo mine site. He is ten years old. At 15:00, Mica and Héritier collected almost 5 kilos of cobalt. They will offer them to Congolese traders, far from the microphone and camera.
► To read also: DRC: how to combat child labor in mines?
Poverty and dropout in school
“We use an old candy box as a unit of measurement. Kilot costs 1000 francs. Some days we can earn between 4,000 and 5,000 francs. If I realize 5,000 francs, I’m happy, I give the family back and they buy me a suit, Héritier testifies.
One thousand Congolese francs per kilo is equivalent to 0.5 dollars. The daily income for these children is up to $ 3. These children come from poor families and do not go to school, Mica explains. “This year I’m not going to school because my mom and dad said they did not have enough money so they enrolled two of my older brothers,” he says.
To date, hundreds of children work in Kolwezi’s craft mines, either for mineral collection, cleaning or small trade. To combat this phenomenon, the Ministry of Mining in Kolwezi demanded coordination of the actions of partners involved in the fight against child labor in mines.
► See also: Cobalt and child labor: the technical giants to which a complaint is addressed
Some results, but a challenge that remains important
For the director of the office of the provincial minister of Kolwezi, Eric Tshisola, there are already some results, although the challenge is still important. “We received children from the mines who told us ‘if we knew, we could not go to the mines’. Some have become welders, others have been recruited to companies because they know an industry, there are also children who have been returned to school. But that’s not enough, because it’s a bicycle. When you remove some of the mines, others come. But “What are these children doing in the mines?” It is this issue that we must resolve and it is an issue of the state. “
And precisely for the local civil society, the Congolese government as well as its international partner must rather strengthen the fight against poverty, which according to it is the main reason for the children’s presence in the mines.
.
