Coltan Fact - Conflict Minerals

...

As much as the consequences of coltan continues to threaten the human race, many high tech companies have been very reluctant to acknowledge that they are using materials that originate from the Congo rebels. However, they do not prove that this is actually the case. Taking for instance, Ericsson claims that it requires the suppliers to comply with the ethical, environmental and the human rights policies. They claim that they ate starting to make it a requirement for the ore suppliers to certify that their tantalum does not necessarily come from Congo.

It is actually very hard to stop the activities of these companies because the high demand for the computer chips and the cell phones have become as lifestyle in the western world. Again, selling of the product is not illegal. In any case, most of calton, valued at $6 billion a year comes from the mining operations that are legitimate in Brazil, Canada and Australia. The moment the demand for the high tech products took off, a new market began flourishing in the DRC. A lot of rebel groups, mostly coming from Rwanda and Uganda have been exploiting calton mining in order to assist in financing a bloody civil war. However, these multinational corporations have consistently denied any knowledge that tantalum could be coming from Congo. This is very possible because the supply chain out of Congo is said to be murky and the global trade in tantalum is very complicated (Raj, 2010).

In an increasingly environment conscious society, the multinational corporations that are venturing in Congo mines are breaching the ethical standards pertaining to human rights because the hazardous and toxic nature of the mines, the level of the contaminated water supply that is harmful to the entire ecosystem, the surrounding forests and the stream beds that have been destroyed in the process. Considering this kind of mining practices, it suffices to say that there is nothing sustainable about it. Since the industry is almost unregulated in the DRC, there is actually very little being done to stop it. Such illicit mining is said to take place in national parks and the land reserves in DRC, as a result of the deep forest cover that is provided by these forests (Eichstaedt, 2011).

The humanitarian crisis in Congo is actually one of the worst in the world. Appalling levels of death, disease and hunger and the countless abuses to human rights have been recorded. There are very many people who have left their homes because of these skirmishes and the human rights breaches. The environment and the wildlife have also not been spared. The mining camps have had a lot of impact on the local wildlife through the commercial hunting for food, including the killing of the endangered species (Eichstaedt, 2011) . Given that this is the most wanted stone, companies are doing very little to ensure that the consequences of their actions have no far reaching implications as far as sustainability and human life are concerned. The corporations that are involved have failed to comply with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) requirements, thus putting the corporate interests first as opposed to upholding the ethical standards (Turner, 2007).

Considering the resurgence of mineral conflicts in Congo and the brutality that has been brought upon the civilians, there is a constant reminder that the multinational companies cannot be let to give support to those that are perpetrating atrocities. They can’t be allowed to breach the international ethical provisions and turn a blind eye on the impact that the subsidiaries have in perpetrating the human atrocities and other ethical breaches. As a matter of fact, the proliferation of the corporate social responsibility slogans as well as the industry regulations has not been sufficient in preventing the corporate complicity in the atrocities that have been committed in Congo. The society is obliged to remain firm on the fact that corporate accountability transcends borders. It is important for the governments to be proactive in responding and monitoring to the actions of their actions abroad. Devoid of this, multinationals will continue to do business in the war zones, where they don’t feel the impact of the regulators, with their thirst for profits pushing then towards the unscrupulous business activities at the expense of the ethical principles (Smith, 2011).

Actions tailored towards addressing the issue have greatly been incommensurate and reactive to the scale of the problem. There are billions that have already been spent by the international community, but have still failed to address the economic drivers of the conflict. Any coherent approach that can alter the incentive structures if the mineral trade conflicts in the country and its devastating impacts in assisting the country have been ineffective. The institutions in the country are also dysfunctional and weak. These aspects make the current efforts that are being put in place fall short. Nevertheless, the Congolese government experiences capacity and leadership deficits, and most of the international efforts that have been in place are incoherent. These definitely imply that there is need to move towards a more comprehensive strategy(Eichstaedt, 2011). The regional government, the private sector and the international community can align their efforts in a bid to ensure that there are common goals for revitalized minerals trade in the country. There is also need for in-depth reforms in the institutions of Congo in the long run. There should be stringent measures that will assist the government curb the activities of the multinationals in the country, and their involvement in the entire conflict. Sanctions can be used as a measure tailored towards regulating the multinationals as well as their home countries (if they are support the activities of these companies). The supply chain should be characterized by a lot of transparency. The ability of the end users to trace and audit the supply chain for the metal components in the products will be a big milestone in channeling the international demand away from the armed groups towards the legitimate sources (Seay, 2012).

The intensity of suffering caused by the conflict minerals problem is immense. The multinationals play a key role in these conflicts, whereby they finance the continuation of the conflicts, whether knowingly or not knowingly. The multinationals also don’t operate in a vacuum in order to propagate this. They collaborate with the indigenous stakeholders who make it very hard for the international standards enforcement agencies to act effectively. However, there still exists a lot of hope that the electronics consumers who are directly involved in the skirmishes will play a critical role in stopping the same. Consumers can play a critical role by raising their voices sand lobby