“Chinese companies linked to illegal logging and mining in northern DRC”

An investigation by EL PAÍS/Planeta Futuro has obtained evidence showing how Chinese-owned companies in northern DRC are illegally extracting natural resources using permits that amount to blank checks. The companies are extracting and exporting endangered tree species and minerals in breach of DRC law, and violating labor and human rights in collusion with officials.

BASOKO, Congo - Fodeco, a Chinese-owned company without industrial logging experience [...] was handed a concession three times the size of New York city in 2015. The company soon came into conflict with local communities over compensation, and they have since boycotted the removal of the timber.

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“These [Fodeco] people came here with no experience and no translator, so they can hardly communicate with anyone,” said a Congolese employee with years of experience in the industrial logging sector, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “We wonder how they ever got permission to start this business,” [...]He lost a finger logging in the forest, but never received any compensation or medical care beyond first aid. [...] “Half a cup of rice per day, sleeping on the floor, no mosquito nets, no contract, no nursing room…Are we beasts?,” Joseph Atuku said.

[...] Across the river from Fodeco, Chinese-owned Booming Green controls more than 1 million hectares of rainforest. The logging giant, which also works in Liberia, acquired five concessions in 2017 in violation of DRC’s ban on new industrial felling. Congolese inspectors also accuse them of owing $2.59 million to the treasury in acquisition fees and area taxes, but their concession numbers do not feature on the suspension order.

Neither Booming Green nor Fodeco responded to requests for comment sent by e-mail. …

This investigation found that Xian Jiang Mining has been illegally extracting gold, diamonds and rare metals from the river bed for more than a year under cover of a 'prospecting license', promising communities to build them schools and dispensaries when they eventually started selling the goods.

Their five dredgers used to be guarded by policemen, but the company ended up hiring Congolese military to fend off locals who opposed the operation. Each of the company's five dredgers extracts up to 75 tons of sand from the river bed every day and they illegally use mercury to separate the gold from the ore, dumping residues with the neurotoxic metal overboard.

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Today, Xian Jiang Mining continues operating in the area; Fodeco is still trying to export its timber; and Booming Green maintains control over more than 1 million hectares of rainforest.