• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the world’s largest Coltan deposits of key minerals which Apple uses to make electronic devices.
• The government of the DRC is accusing Apple of using “illegally exploited” minerals extracted from its rich minerals controlled by rebels.

What if I told you that, your valued, expensive and widely cherished smartphone from Apple (iPhone) might cost more than its sold in child labour’s lives.

Coltan, key mineral in making mobile phones and laptops is largely found in DR Congo and tech giants – including Apple could be directly or indirectly involved in aiding child labour deep in Congo mines.

Media reports show that people across the developed world are boycotting the newly released iPhone 16. Protesters from London to Tokyo are demanding accountability over exploitation in mining that is used to extract the key element used in making the very phones sold across the globe.

Protesters chanted slogans such as “A child died in Congo for your iPhone” stressing on what is occurring in DRC. The matter of intersection between modern technology, human rights and values driving social cohesion are getting interesting by day as the quest to end social injustice get wide, digital and intriguing.

Congo piles accusations on Apple

In a tense turn of events, in April 2024 the government of the DRC accused Apple of using “illegally exploited” minerals extracted from the nation. The lawsuit is part of a series of attacks the East African nation has waged against the US-based tech giant.

The international lawyers representing the DRC said they acquired new evidence from whistleblowers, which deepened the concerns that Apple could be sourcing minerals from conflict areas in the eastern Congo.

The latter comes after Apple denied the complaints in its 2023 report, saying they followed due diligence and no smelter or refiner of 3TG (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) financed any armed group directly or indirectly.

Apple is just at the top of the list. There are, however, other tech giants accused of the same, including Tesla, Microsoft, Alphabet Inc, Dell Technologies Inc.

Death of children, injuries and permanent bodily harm such as paralysis were filed as part of the lawsuit filed against the tech giants. However, in April 2024 a US federal court threw out a lawsuit that sought to hold Apple and other tech-giants liable for their alleged use of child labor to mine cobalt in the DRC.

According to Reuters, in a statement, the lawyers urged Apple to answer questions about its supply chain in the country, and said they were evaluating legal options. Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Congo has been ravaged by violence since the 1990s, particularly in the restive east, where a myriad of armed groups, some of them backed by neighbouring Rwanda, fight over national identity, ethnicity, and resources.

Congo’s lawyers notified Apple CEO Tim Cook on April 22 of a series of concerns about its supply chain, and also wrote to Apple subsidiaries in France, demanding answers within three weeks. The Amsterdam & Partners LLP law firm has been investigating allegations that minerals mined in Congo by several companies and armed groups are being smuggled out through Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

Read also: DRC enters new mining pact with UAE

Blood minerals

The demand for seamless technology is growing larger so as is the cost for its realization. DRC is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt and coltan. Unfortunately, the region where Coltan is mined is controlled by M23 rebels, who authorities in the DRC believe that they are backed by Rwandan government.

All of these four minerals: tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are found in our electronics and all are regarded as conflict minerals due to their origin based from the DRC.

A 2023 report by CNBC highlighted that the DRC contains an estimated US$24 trillion in untapped mineral resources, and it remains mired in poverty and gruesome violence, while mining of these four minerals fuels funding of armed conflict in the region.

According to the report, the metals are integral to consumer electronics. In a smartphone, for example, tin is used to solder metal components together, while tantalum is used in capacitors, which store electrical energy. Tungsten is used in the components that make a phone vibrate, and gold is used in circuit board connectors.

As the world enjoys its tech, African nations are forced into a complex web of armed conflicts fueled by injustice and the quest to propel immoral technological advancement.

Read also: The battle for Africa’s resources: Can the continent use it to break free from poverty?

Child labour for your iPhone

According to the United Nations, at least 40,000 children are working in dangerous conditions in cobalt mines in the Katanga province alone. The matter of unpaid, forced or even unqualified labour has echoed the walls of justice and equality for decades.

Strangely enough, Apple’s supply chain has uncovered child labour issues. Over the years reimbursement was done for the damages done, but it is not enough as cases of such emerge in the DRC.

A 2013 report by the Guardian highlighted how Apple discovered multiple cases of child labour in its supply chain, including one Chinese company that employed 74 children under the age of 16.

Joint efforts to curb blood minerals in Congo

Matters of tracing minerals have been rolled out with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, urging American companies to disclose their use of conflict minerals.

“If you’re a big company, you’re a name brand, you’re consumer-facing, you can easily spend a million on this,” explained Chris Bayer, principal investigator at the nonprofit International Development. “And the big brands that we all know, they would spend a lot more.”

According to a report by the VOA, the latter has given rise to a web of organizations working to trace and verify supply chains. For example, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Intel, Samsung and hundreds of other companies are members of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which maintains a list of smelters and refiners that have undergone an independent audit to ensure that sourcing responsibly.

In its most recent conflict minerals report, Apple said it has removed 163 smelters and refiners from its supply chain since 2009, including 12 in 2021. In a nutshell, the entire scenario demands accountability and diligence from both ends. The DRC needs to stabilize and take hold of its crucial and significant mineral resources to ensure no more bloodshed, injustice and blood minerals are used to make technology that fuels child labour.