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The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo's south-eastern main mining area, Lualaba, are increasing monitoring in the fear that there will be a surge in parents sending their children down the mines, reports Reuters News agency.

The global demand for metals such as cobalt has decreased during the coronavirus, leading to miners' earnings plummeting, reports Reuters.

It adds that exports of cobalt fell by 15.2% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year.

The fear is that if parents cannot earn enough money to survive they will take their children out of school to do dangerous work in mines.

"Economic activity has been paralysed during this health crisis and this will have a negative impact on parents' income... But this must not be used as justification for the presence of children in mines," Mathieu Kazembe Sawana Ilunga, the official who oversees the economy in Lualaba, is quoted by Reuters as saying.

Nathalie Lunda Ngandu, the official in charge of social affairs, gender and family issues in Lualaba, told Reuters that they will improve monitoring systems for child labour.