DR Congo ministers call for eased lockdown for miners

DR Congo’s mines ministry has proposed lifting lockdowns at mining operations after workers went on strike to protest compulsory on-site confinements during the coronavirus outbreak.

Human rights organisations said earlier this month that mining workers in the vast African country were being forced to stay in overcrowded, unsanitary accommodations.

During a council meeting on Friday government ministers acknowledged the “abysmal housing conditions” of employees in the mineral-rich Katanga region.

Since a lockdown put in place on March 10 by companies producing cobalt and copper, many employees have been forced to work beyond their eight-hour shifts with no additional pay, according to a group of local and international NGOs.

At some sites, “Congolese workers were not given adequate food and water rations, were not provided with appropriate sleeping arrangements and, in some cases, were not given a choice to accept the confinement without fear of losing their jobs or other forms of reprisal,” the organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said.

The workers are at a great risk for COVID-19 due to the lack of personal protective equipment and handwashing facilities, the group said in a letter to mining companies, stressing that the findings were “of great concern”. (AFP)