Democratic Republic of Congo: Mining

(asked on 22nd January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the families of children working in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are seeking compensation for forced labour, unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress, wages promised but not paid, and the loss of assets, educational and business opportunities.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 5th February 2020

The UK is concerned about reports of modern slavery and child labour in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and UK officials have raised these concerns with the government. The UK has implemented a number of programmes to tackle modern slavery in DRC, including a programme with the Carter Centre to improve transparency and governance in the mining sector, working with civil society and mining companies. The UK is committed to ending modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking worldwide by 2030, including the eradication of child labour, as unanimously adopted in the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

Under the Modern Slavery Act, all large businesses in the UK with a turnover of £36m or more are required to publish an annual transparency statement detailing the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery from occurring in their business and supply chains. As an active member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we encourage states and those working in the industry to implement the OECD’s Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas. In 2018/19 we funded the OECD to run dissemination and capacity-building projects to support implementation of the guidance.

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