Congo's labour and mining inspectors have failed to stop forced labour in its mines, where trafficking goes unpunished, a UN investigator found.
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The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons reported (A/HRC/62/41/Add.1, dated May 15, 2026, after a July 2025 visit) that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 'inspectorate mechanisms, including labour and mining inspectorates, have not functioned effectively to ensure protection against trafficking for the purposes of forced labour' in the mining sector, and that 'lack of independence, widespread corruption and insecurity, and lack of investigations result in trafficking occurring with impunity.' The Support and Guidance Service for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, created in 2022, still lacks resources; enforcement of the Labour Code's bans on forced labour and the worst forms of child labour remains weak, especially at provincial level; and child trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery 'by armed groups, State actors, mining actors and private security contractors persists with impunity.' Child labour in industrial concessions is hard to monitor because of restricted access and the heavy presence of State armed and security forces and mining police.
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