afrol News, 14 July - The Angolan government has deported more than 9, 000 Congolese from the northern part of the country, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed in the statement.

The OCHA statement said more than 1,745 people have been expelled from Angola to the Bas-Congo region since the start of June, further stating that more expulsions are expected as refugees are flooding the country as fighting continues in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports have also revealed some returnees had been locked up for two months in Angola before being dropped 100 kilometres from the DRC border and told to walk across the border.

Rights activists have expressed concern over the expulsion of Congolese who face harsh conditions saying some had been subjected to intimate body searches that are inhumane.

They further said women and young girls are often violated as security officials use one glove to examine close to 20 women on the pretext of looking for smuggled diamonds and money.

"We have heard some terrible accounts of this and what is worse, this glove is being used to examine young girls, putting them all at risk of sexual infections,” reports have stated.

OCHA reported last year that 85,000 Congolese were expelled from Angola between May and August, adding to the 140,000 who were officially repatriated between December 2003 and July 2007.

On Monday the Angolan Immigration Service announced it had expelled 76 people of DRC from Malanje province and said that 55 people from Mali, Ivory Coast and Guinea had also been arrested for being in the country illegally.

Last month the SME said it was carrying out missions in the diamond areas to find illegal immigrants and deport them. Thousands of illegal immigrants are flooding Angola’s mining region is search for better life, but they face serious violations by state security guards, reports have said.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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