Cameroonian emigrants from Tunisia react as government issues 65,000 fcfa to each as help
“I say thank you, but this amount is insignificant for people who have lost and abandoned everything in Tunisia where they lived waiting for a better tomorrow. I am a trained cook and will be glad if I can have something significant to start up a business,” a beneficiary stated.
The ministry of external relations (MINREX) announced that the first wave of Cameroonians had arrived on board a Royal Air Maroc flight that had been chartered by the government and guaranteed that they would receive immediate care. According to a source from MINREX, only 75 emigrants out of the 161 Cameroonians recorded in Tunisia agreed to return to Cameroon.
The 75 returnees, aged 4 – 52, were housed in a makeshift facility for migrants upon arrival in Yaounde on April 6th. Reports reveal each of them received a cheque of F CFA 65,000 from the government as assistance.
The migrants also lamented that going back to their families would be a big failure since they were already financially established in Tunisia and so need a more substantial financial assistance in order to be able to start afresh.
“I want to open a restaurant that sells pizza but I need money to start and I don’t have any. Going back to my family is a big failure. Psychologically, I haven’t yet adjusted to it…my predicament is intolerable,” another stated.
Many of them said they had spent yers in Tunisia with the hope of getting to Europe but were not successful.
Cameroon is one of the last sub-Saharan African nations to repatriate some of its citizens seeking to leave Tunisia following the vioelnce recorded against them in the country.
A report released on March 10th by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), noted that a 2021 study estimated that more than 21,000 foreigners from African countries outside the Maghreb were discovered in Tunisia, a nation with a population of over 12 million.
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