Over 60,000 nationals have fled the Republic of Congo
(RoC) into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) as the government in Brazzaville intensifies
its crackdown on illegal immigrants in the country. DR Congo authorities stationed
at Ngolia Beach, the country's border with Brazzaville, Congo, have confirmed receiving
ferries packed with close to 4,000 people on a daily basis.
According to a
report by the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), most of the
return migrants have cited harassment by RoC security authorities as a reason
for their departure from the country. One of the returnees recounted, “Even
those with proper residency permits have not been spared. In some cases, the
police have burnt or tore these papers”. Red Cross officials, who have been on hand to receive them, have also
admitted that most of the returnees had bruises and wounds.
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| Going home: DR Congo nationals board buses supplied by their government to take them back home (Image Credit: www.news.yahoo.com) |
Government officials from Kinshasa, however, told
reporters that only 1,000 people out of the overall return migrants were
formally deported because they did not have the documents to stay in RoC. Lambert Mende, the government spokesperson
revealed, “A large percentage of the returnees fled the country out of fear of
forceful expulsion”.
The migrants have been huddled in a sports stadium as
well as the Kinshasa Town Hall where they have been provided with food and
water. Their swelling numbers have, however, mushroomed into a humanitarian
crisis. The head of Red Cross Kinshasa, Doris Muyembe revealed that some of the
returnees were suffering from malaria, headaches, diarrhoea as well as
malnutrition in children. Muyembe revealed, “We do not have enough medical
supplies and this makes it hard to take care of everyone”.
Due to the proximity of the two countries, DRC citizens
constitute the largest foreigners in RoC where they mainly engage in menial
occupations, such as, domestic work, driving, garbage collection and hawking. The
2010 Migration
and Remittances Factbook by World Bank revealed that RoC was one
of the top destinations in Africa for immigrants from DR Congo; other immigrants who reside in
RoC in large numbers include those from France, Central African Republic
(CAR), Cote d’ Ivoire, Mali and Angola. Other top destinations in Africa for DR
Congo nationals include Burundi, Rwanda, CAR, Uganda and Zambia. It also has
one of the highest emigration rates in sub-Sahara Africa where in 2010, over
900,000 people emigrated from the country, which constituted 1.3 per cent of
its total population.
Return migrants are concerned about securing employment
to earn a livelihood. Some of them urged their government to initiate
programmes to enable them earn a living and avoid having to emigrate as an
escape mechanism from poverty.
Their unease for their economic welfare is
something that usually resonates with other return migrants around the world. A
2013 report by the Transatlantic Forum on Migration and Integration titled Return Migration: Challenges and
Opportunities highlights the economic challenges
faced by Cameroonian return migrants from various countries worldwide who have
to compete for the scarce jobs available in their country.
Some of them possess
creative ideas for business and politics, which further earns them disdain and
rejection from fellow Cameroonian citizens who consider them an unwanted and
additional competition for the scarce employment opportunities. They also have
to contend with the low salaries, which is a mismatch with their expertise. As
a result, most of the return migrants have resorted to entrepreneurship
ventures to fend off the ravages of poverty.
What
are your views concerning the activities of the officials in the Democratic
Republic of Congo?
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