GOMA, Congo (AP) — Miners in eastern Congo are seeking to go back to work in territory that has been under a mining ban for three years and is blacklisted by U.S. legislation, according to a petition made public Friday.
Their petition, which calls for mines in Walikale territory to be allowed to restart production, was signed by five cooperatives of artisanal miners as well as mine owners, traditional chiefs and other supporters.
The ban was imposed across much of eastern Congo on the grounds that minerals were funding armed groups. It extends to nearly all of the mines over an area many times the size of Walikale.
Congress's 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which requires American companies trading in Congolese minerals to conduct due diligence checks, has reinforced the ban.
Friday's petition says the security situation in Walikale would allow for the resumption of mining activities, whereas a continuation of the ban "risks having serious effects on security owing to increased youth unemployment."
"Local communities have succeeded in persuading some of our young people to quit the armed groups, but as there is no work in the villages they are often tempted to go back," said Prince Kihangi Kyamwami, a traditional leader in Walikale who helped organize the petition.
Kyanwami said there is no activity by armed groups at three-quarters of the mines in Walikale.
