mining companies warned against violation of human rights
WITH the corona virus still a major disruption to most of the world, the pandemic has caused a lot of damage on many sectors.
Trade unions have accused Mining companies operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of violating mining workers’ rights in view of ending the corona virus.
The mining companies have been advised to end confinement policies aimed at slowing the spread of the Corona disease as the practice infringes on human rights.
Miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being forced to remain at mining sites to carry on production amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Mostly copper-cobalt mining companies in the DRC have started this practice to avoid the shutdown of production despite the novel coronavirus outbreak. Employers have threatened to fire the workers if they do not remain on the mining site. Several workers and their unions have complained about being forced to comply with this demand due to the lack of other job options.
This was according to a letter sent to 13 of the DRC’s largest copper and cobalt producers by civil society groups, amnesty international, the human rights watch.
The letter was aimed at warning mining firms about trying to avoid their responsibility in the sectors.
The unions also added that the companies need to install the necessary measures to protect workers from the COVID-19 infection. The letter demands that all mining sites follow the essential guidelines of maintaining physical distancing and provide necessary hygiene facilities to the workers.
The corona virus has slowed down many businesses in the world of which many companies have laid off most of their members in order to help the businesses stabilize.
‘’Companies should give workers the choice to continue commuting to work while living at home, and those who decide to stay on a confined site must be given adequate compensation, including bonuses, they said.’’
‘’many workers in the DRC’s southern copper and cobalt regions have been told by their managers to either stay and work or lose their jobs,’’
Companies were advised to end the confinement entirely, or at least ensure any confinement was as short as possible and reviewed regularly in consultation with the workers and unions.
At some confined mine sites, many Congolese workers are reportedly being given insufficient food and water and inadequate accommodation, while at others they had no adequate personal protective equipment or hand-washing facilities, the organisations said.
Some of the companies mentioned in the letter are the world’s largest mining companies, such as Glencore and the Eurasian Resource Group
Congo is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, accounting for 70% of global supply of the metal used in batteries for phones and electric cars. Its Africa’s top producer of copper.