My question in Parliament this week about the use of child and slave labour in Chinese owned cobalt mines in the DRC
https://x.com/DavidAltonHL/status/1730219882313097655?s=20
Saying no to slave labour: Younger consumers are demanding the truth
America Lord Alton 11-30-23
Nearly three-fourths of Gen Z consumers are willing to pay more for products that are environmentally sustainable, according to a poll released in 2020. But would Gen Z and the rest of us be willing to pay more for products that are not produced by slaves? Would this generation be willing to boycott products made in countries credibly accused of human trafficking? I have little doubt that if Gen Z knew the horrific origins of many of the products they purchase, the answer would be a resounding yes, and that would hold true for the rest of us. In this case, making it easy for people to “put their money where their mouth is” is not as far-fetched as you might think.
In 19th-century Britain, knowledge of how human beings were trafficked and enslaved on Caribbean plantations led to mass boycotts of sugar products. Education changed peoples’ hearts and minds and led to the initial abolition of the slave trade. More recently, labels carrying health warnings have led to a radical drop in tobacco usage worldwide. Both of these examples targeted the ordinary person and made doing the right thing very easy. Today, if there were a legal requirement to label products as coming from Xinjiang—a province in China known for promoting human trafficking and slave labor, and where a genocide against the Uyghur population is underway—people would think twice before purchasing them.
Some may object to this truth-in-labeling approach as simplistic or point out that governments have already enacted bills like the Modern Slavery Act in the United Kingdom and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the United States. These are important steps, but we also need ordinary people to make the sacrifice of passing over products made in places like Xinjiang Province. And make no mistake, many of the goods we order from Amazon or buy in our local stores are produced by slave labor.
In August, the United Nations marked international days of remembrance, one for the victims of violence based on religion or beliefand another for the slave trade. In my 40 years traversing the world as a member of Parliament, I have found that these two tragic experiences are inextricably linked.
Countries that deny religious freedom are serial human rights abusers, denying every other human right too. Discrimination beats a remorseless path, morphing into persecution and then into atrocity crimes and ultimately to the crime above all crimes: genocide. On the way, human dignity is replaced by gross oppression and terrible violations of human rights, including enslavement. Ignore threats to religious freedom, and people suffer and die.
This bleak reality was all too clear at a recent conference convened by the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative. Lawyers, politicians, academics, theologians and philosophers, representing many faiths, discussed the current state of religious freedom and belief around the world. We heard from people born in slave camps. From people forced to flee their homelands, we heard shocking accounts of violence, imprisonment, family separation and exile. These were voices that had firsthand knowledge of the stark reality of genocide and slavery—an everyday reality for many millions of people.
It will not be easy to end human trafficking, slavery or grave suffering, and I am not suggesting that paying attention to a label on a piece of clothing will achieve that. But doing nothing means that things only get worse.
Harnessing the sheer power of the philosopher Edmund Burke’s “small battalions” of community associations could radically tip the scales against injustice. Consumers and their spending power could bring about change. They could reshape the economics of multinational corporations that are complicit in slavery and hit the bottom line of countries, like China, that are the beneficiaries.
We should also recognize the power of faith communities to change consumer choices, as they did in mobilizing millions of people against the trans-Atlantic slave trade. If the four out of five members of the world’s population who profess a religious faith were to get behind this initiative, they could also move us closer to restoring the basic human rights of millions of people who are needlessly suffering.
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Lord Alton – 30th November 2023 – Question raised in the House of Lords
https://www.davidalton.net/2023/11/30/efforts-to-end-the-use-of-child-labour-from-artisanal-cobalt-mining-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-questions-to-the-government/
Lord Alton of Liverpool:
Will the minister initiate an urgent investigation into reports of children standing knee deep with their bare skin in toxic pools mining for cobalt; examine the research of Professor Siddharth Kara published in Cobalt Red, and challenge the absurdity of companies relying on assurances from state run Chinese companies in the Congo that human rights norms are met?
Under the terms of the Modern Slavery Act, will he consider offences committed within supply chains, make offending companies subject to company qualifications – as with GDPR disqualifications – and meet with me and others to consider a product kite marking scheme to enable consumers to know that they are buying goods made using slave and child labour?
Lord Alton – 30th November 2023
House of Lords
In full:
- Oral questions: Supporting international efforts to end the use of child labour from artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. the following Peers added their voice:
- Lord Benyon (Conservative) (Minister)
- Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Purvis of Tweed (Liberal Democrat)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Baroness Butler-Sloss (Crossbench)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Bellingham (Conservative)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
- Lord Stirrup (Crossbench)
- Lord Benyon (Conservative)
See this report on the issue of child labour in the DRC as produced by the US Bureau of International Labor Affairs. The 2022 report found that:
‘In 2022, the Democratic Republic of the Congo made a minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. In October, the Interministerial Commission to Combat Child Labour in Mines and Artisanal Mining Sites launched the Child Labour Monitoring System. Moreover, the Ministry of Labour began recruiting 2,000 labour inspectors and controllers, some of whom will be trained to conduct inspections in mine sites. President Felix Tshisekedi also promulgated Law No° 22/067 for the Prevention and Fight Against Trafficking in Persons, which strengthened penalties for trafficking in persons. However, despite new initiatives to address child labour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is receiving an assessment of minimal advancement because of the national army’s complicity in the worst forms of child labour.’
This media report from February 2023 also raises issues of concern: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/phone-electric-vehicle-congo-cobalt-mine-b2277665.html
Cobalt mining for Big Tech is driving child labor, deaths in the Congo
Child labour, sexual assault, birth defects, abject poverty, workers buried alive: A new exposé on artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lifts the curtain on a nightmarish world in which billions of people are unwittingly complicit. Senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle reports www.independent.co.uk
An expert on the issue of cobalt mining in the DRC, Professor Siddharth Kara, associate professor at the University of Nottingham, and author of ‘Cobalt Red’ told Lord Alton:
‘A central issue is the fact that the truth on the ground in the Congo is diametrically opposed to the assurances provided by consumer-facing tech and EV companies that their cobalt supply chains are not tainted by child labor, forced labor, hazardous conditions, and enormous environmental destruction caused by mining operations. Rubber-stamp auditing firms provide purported due diligence to these companies that their supply chains are clean, when the truth is invariably the opposite and is available for anyone to see on the ground.
Based on several months of ground research, which I detail in Cobalt Red, I believe the presumption should be that the cobalt used in the batteries of rechargeable gadgets or EVs is in fact tainted by human rights violations and environmental destruction.
Independent, third-party schemes should be established to provide more trustworthy auditing of these supply chains.
Consumer-facing tech and EV companies should not simply rely on assurances from state-run Chinese mining companies that human rights norms are maintained in the DRC – they should get in the ground themselves and ensure their supply chains adhere to international human rights norms and sustainability practices. That should also include investment in local communities – schools, public health clinics, electrification, sanitation, and so forth.
The supply chain provisions in the UK Modern Slavery Act should go beyond simple reporting requirements to include actual deterrent mechanisms or penalties that motivate a change in corporate behavior. Accountability should not be pushed downstream – it must sit at the top of the chain if conditions at the bottom are ever to be improved.
Finally, it may be fruitful for the UK government to convene a dedicated commission to this matter and conduct independent research on ground conditions, which can guide future policy efforts.’
The Government needs to address the following questions:
- According to the 2022 report of the US Bureau of International Labour Affairs, in 2022, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo supplied weapons and munitions to non-state armed groups known for recruiting children.
- What is the Government’s assessment of non-state actors recruiting children in the DRC? Has HMG conducted JACS assessment of the situation in the DRC in recent years and if so, what are the findings in relation to the use of children for forced labour and in armed conflict as recruited by non-state actors?
- According to the 2022 report of the US Bureau of International Labour Affairs, in 2022, the DRC failed to take active measures to ensure that children are not inappropriately incarcerated, penalised, or physically harmed solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their exploitation in the worst forms of child labour. What communications has the Government had with its counterparts on the issue and what practical and capacity-building assistance has the Government made available to its counterparts?
- According to reports, children in mining communities suffer birth defects, developmental damage, vomiting and seizures from direct and indirect exposure to the heavy metals. Expert, Siddharth Kara, told journalists about ‘children standing knee-deep with their bare skin in toxic pools, and babies carried in slings on their mothers’ backs into pits. Female miners, who earn less than the average two dollars per day paid to men, typically work in groups as sexual assault is common in mining areas.’ What is the Government’s assessment of the effects of cobalt mining of children in the DRC?
- What is the Government’s doing to identify whether the cobalt-containing products imported to the UK are tainted in child labour from the DRC?
Considering the disturbing news relating to the credibility of assurances given by consumer-facing tech and electric vehicle (EV) companies that their cobalt supply chains are not tainted by child labour, forced labour, hazardous conditions, and enormous environmental destruction caused by mining operations, what is the Government doing to examine the issue, and ensure that the products arriving in the UK contain correct information about the supply chain, any falsified information is dully addressed, and at minimum, where it is not possible to give assurances on legal and ethical sources, this is clearly disclosed on the products.
Research presented by Professor Siddharth Kara in ‘Cobalt Red’ suggests that the presumption should be that the cobalt used in the batteries of rechargeable gadgets or electric vehicles (EVs) is in fact tainted by human rights violations and environmental destruction. What assessment has the Government made of the findings of this research and how is the Government addressing it?
What is the Government doing to ensure that independent, third-party schemes auditing of these supply chains is being conducted? For example, is the Government considering introducing a special independent commission to undertake this work?
What is the Government doing to ensure that consumer-facing tech and electric vehicle (EV) companies do not simply rely on assurances from state-run Chinese mining companies that human rights norms are maintained in the DRC but conduct their own on-the-ground assessment?
What is the Government doing to boost the self-assessment requirement of the Modern Slavery Act to include actual deterrent mechanisms or penalties that motivate a change in corporate behaviour?
