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UN Report Exposes Angola's Migrant Worker Expulsions leading to Sexual Violence Against Women and Children

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Ebenezer Mensah
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UN Report Investigating Migrant Worker Expulsions from Angola Alleges Human Rights Violations

An inquiry by the United Nations has revealed that recent expulsions of migrant workers from Angola resulted in human rights abuses, with Congolese women and children being sexually assaulted and subjected to other types of violence.

Over the past six months, officials and the UN discovered that 12,000 workers had passed through one border crossing, located near the town of Kamako in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Reports indicate that Kamako has become an "open-air migrant camp." According to the UN report, only 20% of deported migrant workers had permits while most of them had entered Angola illegally. Angola has the third-largest economy on the African continent with crude oil accounting for almost all of its exports.

In recent months, Angola has deported thousands of workers, including vulnerable women and children. According to the UN's findings, sexual abuse and other types of violence against women and children are on the rise since these expulsions.

The UN report comes after a series of similar purges within the past 12 years, causing human rights groups to raise concerns about possible violations in Angola.

Amnesty International highlighted the issue, warning of the potential risks involved in the migrant clearance operation. The investigation also revealed that numerous cases of abuse go unreported, meaning that the actual number of incidents is unknown, and likely much higher than is currently documented.

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