Congo and Angola Reach a Deal on Citizens’ Expulsion

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By Seyi Oduyela

Published: October 14, 2009

Congo and Angola Reach a Deal on Citizens’ Expulsion

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola have agreed to stop expelling each other’s citizens after weeks of tit-for-tat deportations that have left thousands of people homeless. DRC information minister Lambert Mende announced the agreement yesterday. Around 23,000 Angolans have been expelled from DRC in the past two months, according to local state-run media. Many were reportedly refugees who had lived in DRC for decades after fleeing Angola’s civil war.

Angola has deported around 140,000 Congolese since 2003, including around 18,800 in the last few weeks, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Most of the Congolese expelled were thought to be illegal diamond diggers, the report said. OCHA warned the expulsions could trigger a “humanitarian catastrophe” at the border between the two countries.

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