Human rights investigations estimate that at least 25,000 children work in cobalt mines across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, over three-fourths of miners may be operating under forced labor conditions, involving coercion, debt bondage, or other involuntary arrangements.

In March 2025, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group seized control of Walikale, a key mining town in Eastern Congo, tightening its grip on one of the most strategically important sources of coltan in the world. Evidencity estimates that at least 16,300 artisanal tantalum miners work under forced labor conditions every day in the DRC. This is the brutal human cost behind the capacitor in our phones or the circuitry in our cars.