Several hundred people from Central African
nations are stranded in southern Cameroon after being expelled from
neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon this month.
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon say they are expelling foreigners who do not have proper identification papers.
The majority of those being expelled are economic migrants from
around Central Africa. They complain that authorities in those two
countries ransacked their homes, seized their money and deposited them
on the border at Kiossi. Some had only just arrived in those countries while others had been living there for years.
Bakari Zhouli, a 45-year old engineer from Chad, says his documents were taken and he is stuck.
He says he is surprised that the government of Equatorial Guinea is
chasing out the people who helped to transform many parts of their
country from mere foot paths, forests and abandoned cocoa plantations
into a developing country. He says he helped transform the capital,
Bata, in the 15 years he was there.
Gabon and Equatorial Guinea say they are expelling foreigners who do
not have proper identification papers for security reasons, saying some
migrants are engaged in illegal mining and criminal activities.
Felix Nguele Nguele, governor of Cameroon’s southern region, says the government is investigating.
“We insisted that forces of law and order should have information on
who was expelled and why he was expelled. We took an assessment of all
the control posts on the borders and equally sent a team to the field to
try to sensitize all stakeholders,” said Nguele.
Most of the people now stranded in Cameroon said they went to Gabon
and Equatorial Guinea looking for work. The oil-producing nations have
long been destinations for economic migrants.
Nchama Theodoro is senior adviser to the governor of Woleu-Ntem, one
of Equatorial Guinea’s nine administrative provinces. He says the global
drop in price of oil and other commodities is taking a toll and many
companies are having to lay off workers.
He says central African states should be able to provide
opportunities for their young people who instead see Equatorial Guinea
as the solution to their problems. He says Equatorial Guinea is helping
to build Africa’s workforce by allowing people to come and work freely,
but that cannot be the only solution to unemployment.
The International Monetary Fund said earlier this month that the rate
of economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to slow to a
16-year low. Central Africa is feeling the slump with countries
reporting record increases in debt. Hundreds of Cameroonians have returned home after being expelled from Gabon
Source: cctv-africa.com
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