It says hundreds of Congolese children have been forced by extreme poverty to work in the cobalt mines, digging in underground tunnels with primitive equipment for as little as $2 a day.Īpple said it is “deeply committed to the responsible sourcing of materials that go into our products.” The company said it “removed” six cobalt refiners from its supply chain in 2019 for being unable to meet Apple’s safety standards. Exposure to uranium and mercury can have profound health effects. Over a decade later, child labor persists in cobalt production, raising risks for the entire lithium-ion battery supply chain. The heavy work can permanently damage a growing child s bones and muscles. Recognizing the prevalence of child labor in the mining of this mineral, in 2009 the Department of Labor placed cobalt ore from the DRC on its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Miners use their hands and tools to collect raw material, extract metal and sell it through informal channels. Child labour, abusive working conditions, racism, the violent displacement of local communities, and the prostitution of women and young girls have been. The suit says that the cobalt boom “brought on a new wave of brutal exploitation” for the DRC, which has a bloody colonial history and was once considered the personal property of Belgium’s King Leopold II. Photo Mining is one of the worst forms of child labor. The suit is filed on behalf of 13 anonymous plaintiffs, all families with children who died or suffered serious injury while mining cobalt. The lawsuit targets two mining companies, Glencore in Britain and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in China, which it says supply cobalt to all the defendants. In fact, international organizations have already pointed out the problem of child laborers mining cobalt in the DRC, including UNICEF in 2014 and World Vision. The lawsuit alleges the companies are “aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children” in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We work to end child labour in DR Congo’s cobalt mines.
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