The Head of State has released the sum of 125 million CFA francs for the repatriation of Cameroonian nationals in Equatorial Guinea, following the control operations and expulsions of foreigners in irregular situation.
The ambassador of Cameroon in EG, Désiré Jean Claude Owono Menguele, announced in a statement on October 29th that the state commits in helping the migrants for their return home. It is in this line that an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Malabo, the Equatorial Guinean capital, landed on Monday 31 October at Douala International Airport with 52 Cameroonians on board, according to the national station.
The operation, in the long run, is to promote the voluntary return of 630 Cameroonians in an irregular situation in Equatorial Guinea who have expressed the desire to return to their country, says the ambassador. A first wave returned to the country last Saturday, as announced by the Cameroonian consul in Bata, Richard Etoundi. This exceptional convoy aimed to evacuate 15 people threatened with expulsion. “Other similar operations will be organised, as necessary, in the coming days from Bata and Malabo,” said Désiré Jean Claude Owono Menguele.
Equatorial Guinea has launched, since 20 October, an operation to control the residence permits of expatriates living on its territory. As a prelude to this operation, the Equatorial Guinean government had asked all illegal foreigners to regularise their situation by 31 August 2022 at the latest, we learn. After the expiry of this deadline, the Equatorial Guinean Minister of National Security issued a press release on 13 October inviting all illegal aliens to leave Equatorial Guinean territory voluntarily.
Following the dissemination of this note, Désiré Jean Claude Owono Menguele, in a communiqué published on October 17, asked Cameroonian nationals who registered after the first operation of control of residence permits in November 2021 for their voluntary return to Cameroon, and wishing to leave Equatorial Guinea permanently, to present themselves for this purpose at the embassy,” reads the communiqué. Some 630 people have expressed their desire to return to Cameroon, and the list has been transmitted to the authorities of the host country.
Inter-ministerial consultations were then initiated by the Cameroonian government, in conjunction with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), to organise the return, the ambassador explained. SBBC has learnt that 31 Cameroonians (26 men and 5 women) are currently detained at the Malabo Multi-Sports Complex, as part of the ongoing residence permit control operation.
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