DR Congo new ground for Chinese companies in search of gold: Report

In the mining zones, people have hit the streets, prompting the Chinese Foreign Ministry to get into damage control mode, said a think tank, Policy Research Group (POREG).

According to the think tank, the Chinese companies also are making a killing by collaborating with the gold smuggling networks, which use the Ruzizi River (towards Burundi), Kivu Lake (towards Rwanda) and Tanganyika Lake (towards Tanzania) for smuggling.

These networks in turn contribute to supply of arms and ammunition, perpetuating the conflict in DRC and in the Great Lakes region. And the issue has become a matter of grave concern to Kinshasa.

BM Global Business, Congo Blueant Mineral, Oriental Resources Congo, Yellow Water Resources, and New Oriental Mineral are amongst the Chinese companies into illegal gold mining in connivance with corrupt local leadership, the think tank said.

"Their operations are reportedly protected by the Congolese Armed Forces, (FARDC)," "Their operations are reportedly protected by the Congolese Armed Forces, (FARDC)," Institut Francais des Relations Internationales, (IFRI) said in a report detailing "illegal use of minerals and forests by Chinese companies in Sud-Kivu". reported citing Institut Francais des Relations Internationales, (IFRI) as saying in a report detailing "illegal use of minerals and forests by Chinese companies in Sud-Kivu".

The illegal gold mining has badly affected the people of six villages, namely Kaboge, Kitumba, Sugulu, Mbelekelo, Bakongo and Kitutu, POREG reported.

Again, like elsewhere in Africa, here in Congo also, the Chinese companies are compounding human rights violations, and arbitrary arrests of critics and protesters. Result: threats, torture, confinement, extortion, illegal occupation of fields and fishing ponds, the think tank said. (ANI)