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A December 2025 Global Witness investigation warns that the EU- and US-backed Lobito Corridor—intended to rehabilitate nearly 2,000 km of rail to move copper and cobalt from southern DRC (and potentially northern Zambia) to Angola’s port of Lobito—could drive evictions and related abuses in Kolwezi, including in the low-income Bel Air neighbourhood where the track runs through dense housing and commerce.  The report notes that train movements branded by the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) consortium began reappearing from 2024, signalling a shift from disuse to renewed operations, and that LAR (which includes Trafigura and Mota‑Engil) is undertaking emergency works while broader DRC-side arrangements remain unclear.  Using satellite imagery and a mapped “buffer zone” likely to be cleared during rehabilitation, Global Witness estimates roughly 700–1,200 buildings could be affected, impacting ~3,500–6,500 people who live in or rely on areas adjacent to the rails.  The social risk is heightened by local vulnerability (limited water access; reliance on artisanal mining from industrial mine tailings) and an existing displacement crisis tied to rapid mining-driven growth and mine expansion.    The report describes contested land tenure along the line (including former SNCC railway land reportedly distributed to unpaid workers and later sold, with title validity disputed) and claims that evictions in Kolwezi are often carried out by soldiers with limited opportunity to contest.    It argues that because the corridor is designed for mineral exports yet is not covered by the DRC Mining Code’s stronger resettlement requirements, the Law of Expropriation for Public Utility may apply—requiring compensation that residents say is sometimes not paid—while international human rights standards would require safeguards such as genuine consultation and reasonable notice.  The investigation also flags downstream supply-chain exposure: Trafigura is cited as a key LAR partner with mining investments and supply links in the region, and the Kamoa‑Kakula copper mine is described as an “anchor partner” for corridor transport; Global Witness reports that Kamoa‑Kakula cancelled a plan to relocate 10 villages in August 2025 due to higher-than-expected compensation requirements, after civil society researchers alleged shortcomings in consultation and livelihood disruption during negotiations.    The report points to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) as a potential accountability lever for in-scope companies, including for forced-eviction risks, while noting uncertainties from an “Omnibus” revision process.  In ESGis terms, this case can be structured as a Risk Signal (event time: Dec 2025 publication; underlying events: 2024–2025; source: Global Witness; source_type: NGO Report; country: Democratic Republic of the Congo; location_detail: Kolwezi/Bel Air; sectors: Logistics + Mining + Finance; risk_domain: COM + HR (+GOV); risk_type: resettlement, land_conflict, compensation_dispute, security_abuse, transparency_gap), with an indicative rating of Severity S3 and Credibility C2, Status: published, Sensitivity: public (the report notes names were changed for safety).