Equatorial Guinea: over 100 Cameroonians expelled in 24 hours
52 persons out of which 48 adults and 4 children are expected leave Malabo for Douala on October 31 2022 while 31 others made of 26 men and 5 women currently locked up at the Malabo multisports complex have been promised food by Cameroon authorities in te country. According to former detainees at this same centre, te conditions under which they live there are inhumane.
On October 29 2022, a contingent of 110 Cameroonians arrived the border town of kye-Ossi and more are still awaited.
Since 2014, CEMAC member countries have been trying to impliment the Additional Act signed on December 31 2013 which states that all citizens of the 6 CEMAC countries have the right to move freely without visa and live within a 90-day period in any of the countries upon presentation of a passport or an identity card.
Eight years later, Cameroonians are still be sent out of member countries in spite of the agreement. so far, over a hundred of them have been pushed out of Equatorial Guinea for “non possession of identification documents.”
The situation could’ve been averted
Late 2021, the Cameroon ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Jean Desire Claude Awono Mengue and the Cameroon consul in Bata, Richard Etoundi, wrote to competent authorities in Cameroon to launch a voluntary return campaign for Cameroonians living in Equatorial Guinea after several Cameroonians were brutalised and pushed to the Kye-Ossi border in November 2021 for not having proper identification documents. A list of 630 Cameroonians was equally sent to officials of Equatorial Guinea but nothing has filtered.
What Next?
Faced with another forceful eviction, the minister of external relations has informed the public of a 125 million FCFA grant from president Paul BIYA to ensure Cameroonians affected by the situation are attended to and also for the creation of badges for presidents of Cameroon communities in various towns of Equatorial Guinea to ease identification as the repatriation exercise continues.
These forceful expulsions of Cameroonian citizens from Equatorial Guinea date as far back as 2004 when 1500 Cameroonians were sent out of the country alongside thousands of African citizens in the country.
