At the end of January 2026, a massive landslide struck the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern DR Congo, engulfing several hand-dug tunnels and killing more than 200 people, with dozens more injured.
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Many victims remain unrecovered, as rescue efforts were hampered by mud, poor infrastructure, and ongoing insecurity.
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The disaster reignited debate not only about the dangers of artisanal mining, but also about the political narratives used to assign responsibility. According to local authorities and international media, heavy rains triggered the collapse of unstable underground shafts, causing a chain of landslides that buried miners and bystanders.
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Following the incident, the Congolese government publicly blamed the AFC/M23 rebel movement, which has controlled Rubaya since 2024. Officials argue that AFC/M23 allowed unregulated mining to continue, failed to enforce safety standards, and profited from mineral extraction. A government statement described the tragedy as the result of "rampant and illegal exploitation of Congolese natural resources orchestrated by Rwanda and the AFC/M23."
At the same time, the government maintains that mining under AFC/M23 control is illegal, classifying Rubaya as a "red zone" and calling on international actors to halt any mineral trade linked to rebel-held areas.
This position creates a contradiction: if mining activity is illegal and should not exist, how can deaths resulting from it be attributed solely to those controlling the area?
The contradiction in blame
The state's argument rests on the principle that control implies responsibility. If an armed group governs territory, taxes activities, and regulates movement, it bears responsibility for outcomes within that territory-even if those activities are illegal.
However, focusing exclusively on AFC/M23 obscures a deeper and less convenient truth. Dangerous mining practices in Rubaya long predate rebel control.
For decades, informal and artisanal mining has dominated the area due to poverty, lack of employment alternatives, weak regulation, and persistent conflict. For the Congolese government to admit this would mean acknowledging decades of state failure, conflict economies, and global demand for cheap minerals - an explanation far harder to defend internationally than blaming rebels.
What changed: control, not risk
Tunnel collapses and landslides in Rubaya are not new.
Heavy rains, unstable geology, and hand-dug tunnels have made mining accidents predictable for years. Similar tragedies occurred when the area was under state control, demonstrating that the risk is systemic rather than actor-specific.
According to the United Nations, a landslide in Rubaya in 2013 killed around 100 miners after heavy rainfall caused tunnel collapses. In subsequent years, smaller but frequent incidents claimed additional lives, often going unreported. Comparable disasters have occurred across DR Congo, including in Kasai's diamond mines and the copper-cobalt sites of Lualaba.
In November 2025, at least 32 people died when a bridge collapsed at a cobalt and copper mine in Lualaba, plunging miners into flooded pits. Investigations linked the incident to overcrowding, unsafe structures, and heavy rains.
In June 2022, a diamond mine collapse in Kasai reportedly killed between 6 and 40 people, depending on the source. These cases underline that unsafe mining is a nationwide problem, not unique to Rubaya or to areas under AFC/M23 control.
Shared responsibility
AFC/M23's governance did not create the natural and structural hazards that make Rubaya deadly. Responsibility is shared among multiple actors.
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The Congolese state has historically failed to formalize artisanal mining, enforce safety standards, or provide viable economic alternatives. Armed groups exploit these gaps, while global demand for coltan sustains mining under hazardous conditions regardless of who controls the territory.
The Rubaya tragedy is therefore both a human catastrophe and a reflection of long-standing structural failures: poverty, unregulated artisanal mining, weak governance, and regional insecurity. Understanding it requires looking beyond immediate blame to the deeper forces that make such disasters inevitable. Until these root causes are addressed, Rubaya and other mines in eastern DR Congo will remain sites of tragedy, no matter which actor holds control.
Jean-Felix Muhire is a communication and media studies university student.
