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human rights mining

mining companies and clash with the FARDC. The soldiers, working in cahoots with armed their destiny. It puts people’s welfare at the
As one former Mai-Mai fighter and now elderly groups, facilitate the smuggling of minerals centre. This approach is a departure from
miner on the outskirts of Bukavu said, ‘What from non-certified mines to conflict-free mines the mainstream growth mantra, which has
is illegal to them is legal to us ... so we do not and tag them as ‘conflict free’. However, this standardised development models across the
recognise their laws. This is our land and the practice is on the decline thanks to initiatives world, irrespective of the peculiarities of every
minerals are ours ... I feed and educate my such as the RINR and iTSCi. situation.
children from this pit.’ Such activities are rampant in areas with
informal or artisanal mines and rebel-
The third challenge facing efforts controlled mines. In some cases, agents of
to regulate mining is that because state services exacerbate the plight of artisanal Due diligence guidelines and legal
minerals from conflict-free mines miners by imposing illegal taxes on them. frameworks aimed at cleaning
Several lessons can be drawn from what is
attract higher prices than those happening to the mineral trade in the DRC, but up the DRC’s conflict minerals
from non-certified mines, informal the clearest is the failure by the authorities to must safeguard the livelihoods of
miners strive to access the conflict- place the communities’ welfare at the centre communities in mining areas.
free supply chain. This can mean of its planning.
colluding with networks involving In his book Wellbeing Economy: Success in a
armed groups and/or FARDC World Without Growth, Lorenzo Fioramonti Nelson Alusala, ISS Consultant and Senior
makes the point that a truly well-being-based
Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of
soldiers. economy is one that empowers people to Governance Innovation, University of Pretoria.
choose for themselves and to determine

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 21, Issue 20, 2017 | 49