Some of the most sought after gifts this holyday season are also partly financing one of the world’s most deadly wars. Armed militias have taken over several mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) providing key minerals used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, particularly laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
For much of the past decade, cheap supplies of tantalum, derived from the Congo mines have flowed into a long and complex supply chain, involving infamous groups, such as the Hutu militia associated with the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
This five-minute video from German non-profit Edeos exposes the problems that occur during the global production process of smart gadgets, ranging from bad working conditions to environmental pollution.
So what’s the life of a smart phone actually like?