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From rebel-held Congo to beer can

by Red Brick | 3 years, 1 month(s) ago

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Report (0) (0) | 3 years, 1 month(s) ago
Maira

High in the mountains of South Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a Congolese miner caked in sweat and dust hacks at rock in search of precious minerals. Some of his fellow miners in the region look for coltan, a mineral used in the manufacture of mobile phones. Others search for gold. This man is using an iron stake and a simple shovel to dig for cassiterite, or raw tin. Much of the final product from the efforts of cassiterite miners like him ends up as the microscopically-thin layer of tin which lines metal food and drink cans. Tin does not corrode so it is safe for food packaging. That is why there may be a tiny bit of DR Congo on your table or in your cupboard today. Tinned food in a shop Some of these tins may have started out in DR Congo "We have to pay the rebels to work here," the digger we met said. "They force us to give them cash or the equivalent in minerals," he added, standing on the edge of his three-meter deep pit. The roof of the dangerous pit - more like a cave, really - was propped up by sawn tree trunks. But the hundreds of tonnes of rock they supported looked like they could collapse at any time. Many of the mines like these in eastern DR Congo - in North and South Kivu provinces - are controlled by ethnic Hutu rebels from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Chinese-built road This group first arrived in DR Congo - under other names - in 1994 after Hutu military commanders and militiamen had masterminded the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The FDLR still vows that it will return to power in Rwanda. It says it doesn't want war and calls for a political dialogue with the Rwandan government.The FDLR says its weapons are just an insurance policy. But for now, with the rebel group deeply implanted in the forests and mountains of DR Congo, those weapons are also used to extort taxes and minerals from local diggers and traders, reaping profits worth millions of dollars a year. We drove from the provincial capital of South Kivu, Bukavu, towards the trading town of Mwenga. Once hardly accessible by car - and therefore controlled by a variety of armed groups the central authorities could not reach - the dirt road has in the past two years been considerably improved by a Chinese company on contract to the Congolese government.
Report (0) (0) | 3 years, 1 month(s) ago