Congo and Angola Agree to End Deportations

A series of tit-for-tat expulsions between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are expected to end. After many weeks of recriminations, mutual allegations and continued hostilities, the two countries reached an agreement ending the deportations.

On Tuesday, DRC information minister Lambert Mende said the leaders of both countries agreed to suspend the explosions. “The two heads of state have reached an understanding, and something formal will be signed based on what has been agreed.”

Removals started in Angola where the government is unhappy about the presence of many poor Congolese crossing the border. Congolese nationals are crossing the border in an attempt to escape the ongoing war in the DRC; others are looking for better economic prospects, which include the Angolan diamond fields.

To deter refugees from making any permanent shelter, the Angolan government has resorted to a system of mass expulsions, which at times have meant that thousands of people. Accounts from Angola report that some deportees have been grabbed from their homes with only the clothes they were wearing and then sent back.

The situation is a reversal of sorts from the situation when Angola was going through its 27-year civil war. During that time, many Angolan refugees sought a haven in then Zaire. Over time, many were recognized as refuges, started working in factories, owning small businesses or becoming teachers.

However, with the Angolan deportations, Angolans living in the DRC became easy targets for counter deportations.

After the war in Angola ended, the government started to exploit the country's natural resources in oil and diamonds. The DRC, which has its own vast share of resource-based wealth, has been largely unable to tap into those resources. The ongoing large-scale conflicts throughout the DRC have obstructed any development of these resources, leaving its people to look elsewhere for income.