A UN report has alleged recent migrant worker expulsions from Angola have led to human rights violations, including rape and other types of violence against Congolese women and children. In the previous six months, 12,000 workers were reported by officials and the UN, to have passed through one border crossing close to the town of Kamako in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Victor Mikobi, a doctor who specialises in treating victims of sexual violence at a health centre in Kamako, said local clinics had recorded 122 cases of rape this year, unprecedented levels for the town, he said. Head of the IOM’s mission in the DRC, Fabien Sambussy, is quoted by journalists to have described Kamako as an “open-air migrant camp”. According to the UN report, only 20% of the deported workers had permits, and many of them enter Angola illegally. Angola the oil rich southern African nation has deported thousands of workers in recent months, according to UN figures, echoing previous purges over the past 12 years, during which abuses also occurred, according to human rights groups.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA