MSF denounces the inhuman treatment of Congolese expelled from Angola

At least 20,000 people have been expelled over the last week, with many having been subjected to forced separation of families, collective and public sexual violence against both men and women, arbitrary detentions, degrading vaginal and anal searches, gang rape, beatings and looting of goods. 8,000 more people are expected over the next few days.

An MSF team has once again been dispatched to the south western provinces of Bandundu and Western Kasaï in DR Congo to bring medical aid to thousands of Congolese diamond workers expelled in inhuman conditions from Angola.

According to the four-strong MSF team in the region, at least 20,000 people have been expelled over the last week, with many having been subjected to forced separation of families, collective and public sexual violence against both men and women, arbitrary detentions, degrading vaginal and anal searches, gang rape, beatings and looting of goods. 8,000 more people are expected over the next few days.

The mine-workers are first rounded up and then transported to Luremo in Angola, 100km from the border, where they are subjected to a litany of abuse. The conditions they find having crossed into the border towns in DR Congo are deplorable.

As Alain Decoux, MSF head of mission for the DRC, explains, "when the people arrive, they have lost everything including family members. Being returned to the DRC, often hundreds of kilometres from their places of origin, these people are stranded and impoverished, relying entirely on external assistance which has not been forthcoming."

The MSF emergency team is organising safe water supply to reduce the risk of epidemic outbreaks as well as the threat of dehydration. In addition to medical screening on entry, a medical dispensary and a facility to refer more complicated cases have also been put in place as well distribution food. MSF is also undertaking psychological care for the arrivals.

MSF was first driven to condemn the situation in February 2004 after the preceding two months had seen the expulsion of 25,000 workers in an equally degrading fashion.

As Decoux explains, "after the wave of expulsions in February this year the Angolan government assured that any further actions would be undertaken in full respect of the dignity of the workers. In the light of these recent events, it is their obligation to ensure that action is immediately taken."

Like many parts of the DRC, the Bandundu and Western Kasaï provinces are also extremely difficult to access and are areas with a genuine shortage of assistance for the expelled Congolese. As such MSF is also calling on the Angolan and Congolese governments to live up to their responsibilities and other agencies to intervene as quickly as possible.