Tarek Ghani

Mar 6, 2024 | justsecurity.org | Tarek Ghani |Juan Lozano |Anouk S. Rigterink |Jacob Shapiro

Advocates and researchers have drawn attention to the harms from ‘conflict minerals’ (tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold) for more than two decades. As the European Union Trade Commission notes, “In politically unstable areas, armed groups often use forced labour to mine minerals. They then sell those minerals to fund their activities, for example to buy weapons.” But rebels are not the only source of violence near mining sites.