Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Congolese counterpart on illegal mining activities by armed groups in North Kivu.

The UK is deeply alarmed by the events unfolding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We also condemn the recent offensives by the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Rwanda Defence Force, including the capture of Goma and Bukavu, as an unacceptable violation of DRC's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of the UN Charter. The Foreign Secretary visited Kinshasa in February and met with President Tshisekedi. During their meeting they discussed reports of illicit mineral extraction in eastern DRC. We are deeply concerned by reports from the UN Group of Experts about M23 and Rwanda illegally extracting critical minerals from the DRC. We have been clear that illegal economic activity must stop.