‘The curse of gold’: Ubiquitous symbol of wealth still fuels war and abuse

The boys are young, barely in their teens, knee-deep in the muddy rivers of Iga Barriere, panning for gold in one of the most resource-rich but notoriously corrupt countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo. We don’t know where the gold they’ve mined has gone, but we do know that the mineral continues to fuel the decades-long conflict and corruption that has gripped this region since the start of the Congolese war in 1998 . Boys pan for gold on a riverside at Iga in the resource-rich Ituri region of eastern Congo. Credit: Armed groups and criminal networks ruthlessly fight each other for control of wealth’s most ubiquitous symbol…