Angola’s new crackdown on diamond traffickers

LUANDA – Angola will begin a new phase of rounding up and expelling illegal immigrants, including diamond traffickers, to stop the “exploitation of economic resources” in the oil-rich country.

At least 11 000 foreigners suspected of illegal diamond trafficking have been expelled from Angola since the first phase of the operation started in December. “On the orders of government, the army and police have joined for the second phase of an operation to put an end to the exploitation of economic resources in the country, especially diamonds,” the government said in a statement late on Thursday.”Any person, Angolan or foreign, finding themselves in an illegal situation, will be rounded up in temporary zones with medical assistance, food, clothing and housing.Foreigners will be send back to their countries of origin,” read the statement, released in Luanda.The government said that since 2002, when 27 years of war ended, there has been a “massive influx of foreigners wanting to take advantage of the situation”, because borders were permeable and vulnerable.Human rights organisations have accused the Angolan government of “acts of barbarism” against those who were being expelled.Angola’s Interior Minister Osvaldo Serra Van-Dunem acknowledged in February that what he termed “excesses” were committed by the army and police in expelling foreign diamond traffickers.The government says that of around 290 000 diamond traffickers in the country, 90 000 are foreigners, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone.The operation’s second phase will concentrate on the northeastern provinces of Lunda North and South and the northern-central provinces of Malanje and Kwanza South.The first phase, announced in December last year was based in the central Bie and Huambo provinces.- Nampa-AFP”On the orders of government, the army and police have joined for the second phase of an operation to put an end to the exploitation of economic resources in the country, especially diamonds,” the government said in a statement late on Thursday.”Any person, Angolan or foreign, finding themselves in an illegal situation, will be rounded up in temporary zones with medical assistance, food, clothing and housing.Foreigners will be send back to their countries of origin,” read the statement, released in Luanda.The government said that since 2002, when 27 years of war ended, there has been a “massive influx of foreigners wanting to take advantage of the situation”, because borders were permeable and vulnerable.Human rights organisations have accused the Angolan government of “acts of barbarism” against those who were being expelled.Angola’s Interior Minister Osvaldo Serra Van-Dunem acknowledged in February that what he termed “excesses” were committed by the army and police in expelling foreign diamond traffickers.The government says that of around 290 000 diamond traffickers in the country, 90 000 are foreigners, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone.The operation’s second phase will concentrate on the northeastern provinces of Lunda North and South and the northern-central provinces of Malanje and Kwanza South.The first phase, announced in December last year was based in the central Bie and Huambo provinces.- Nampa-AFP