UN experts report that M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fraudulently exported at least 150 metric tons of coltan to Rwanda in 2024. This contamination, the largest recorded in the Great Lakes region in a decade, complicates procurement for technology manufacturers seeking conflict-free metals.
Members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo stand guard against the M23 rebel group in Lubero, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo October 27, 2024.Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fraudulently exported at least 150 metric tons of coltan to Rwanda last year, leading to the largest contamination of the Great Lakes Region’s mineral supply chain on record, UN experts said in a report.
M23’s control of transport routes from Rubaya to Rwanda led to Rubaya minerals mixing in with Rwandan production, the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts said in the report, published on Wednesday. The report said the rebels established a so-called mining ministry in the occupied territory and ensured a monopoly for the export of coltan to Rwanda from Rubaya, which has one of the world’s largest deposits of the strategic mineral.
On the ground, the rebels doubled the wages of diggers to convince them to keep working in Rubaya and oversaw forced labour to widen roads to accommodate truck transport. They also patrolled the town and its mining sites to make sure minerals were only sold to authorised Congolese and Rwandan traders, it said.
M23 Coltan Democratic Republic Of Congo Rwanda Conflict Minerals
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