DR Congo mines ‘abusing workers’ during coronavirus

Activists have accused foreign mining companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo of abusing the rights of workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The country is a major source of minerals, supplying about 70% of the world’s cobalt which is critical for rechargeable batteries.

The rights groups say workers have been told to stay on site 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, or lose their jobs.

In six mines, they have been confined for the past two months.

Photos show crowded dormitories where it is impossible for workers to keep at a safe distance from each other.

Poor sanitation poses another threat of coronavirus infection.

The abuse of the Congolese by foreigners stretches far back in history; they were sold as slaves by the Europeans, then rounded up to work in slave-like conditions in the mines and rubber plantations during the brutal colonial rule of the Belgian king, Leopold II.