Ntaryike Divine Jr in Douala, Cameroon
Over 3000 fraught-looking West African nationals have fled army brutality in Gabon to Cameroon. Authorities in Djoum, a modest town in Cameroon's south region say they began welcoming the expelled Cameroonians, Senegalese, Malians, Burkinabe and Niger nationals last week.
“We think that the number is far less because before we set up a crisis committee to welcome the frail-looking people, many had passed through uncounted. But so far, we have registered 2000 Cameroonians and 1000 West Africans.
For those without means to get transportation, we have trucks that convey the Cameroonians to the capital Yaounde and other nearby big towns from where they can head home. The foreigners are also being conveyed to their respective country diplomatic representations in Cameroon,” Jean Lazare Ndongo Ndongo, sub-prefect of Djoum told AP Friday [10 June].
He said life is gradually returning to normal in Djoum, as the number of expelled people being welcomed and briefly sheltered and fed has sharply subsided.
The evicted people, including men, women and children are mainly artisan gold diggers who have earned a living for several years in the gold-rich Minkebe area in the north of Gabon. Recently, Gabonese authorities announced plans to modernize gold mining in the area, with the coming of new investors.
The decision implied that many of the artisan gold miners, numbering about 8000 according to escapes, would lose their jobs. They announced plans to resist the move, obliging Gabonese authorities to deploy soldiers to force them out.
“They took us unawares. Initially, the authorities said on 31 May that we had been given 72 hours to leave Minkebe. But before we knew it, soldiers were everywhere raping women and torturing the men. The only way out was to escape through the forests as the soldiers blocked roads leading out of Minkebe. We trekked 200km through the forests to reach Djoum,” Wangso Michel, a survivor explained. He testified seeing one Malian national drown in the River Ayina which forms the border between Cameroon and Gabon.
Other eyewitnesses confirmed at least three other people, including a baby born in the forests died during the tedious journey. “A friend of mine, Laurent Menyengue died from over-bleeding after soldiers used a knife to draw the map of Cameroon on his back,” Wangso added.
Cameroonian authorities have still not formally reacted to the expulsions. Last year, relations between both countries were strained when Gabon’s immigration authorities rounded up and expelled hundreds of Cameroonians without required residency documents.
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