UN Says Angolan Troops Abusing Banished Congolese Workers

UN officials complain that Angolan troops are abusing tens of thousands of illegal Congolese diamond miners and their families before banishing them as part of the country’s efforts to crack down on illegal mining and diamond smuggling.

The officials claimed the Angolan army was rounding up men, women and children for intrusive searches before making them walk hundreds of kilometers to the frontier with Congo.

The UN said the Congolese were forced to undergo internal examinations and children were made to empty their bowels in an attempt to prevent smuggling

The UN said the expulsions were legitimate, but not the manner in which they were being carried out.

The U.N. says about 40,000 Congolese have been ejected by the Angolan army since the start of this month in the third and largest wave so far of forced repatriations that began in December.

Angola has denied it is abusing the miners and their families and claims they are being well treated.

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Many of the miners arrive at the Congolese frontier on the point of collapse while some women say they have been raped, according to the UN.

The long walk to the border has been made even more difficult by years of war that have destroyed Congo's roads and other infrastructure.

The Angolan government justifies its operations by saying that since the end of the 27-year civil war in 2002, tens of thousands of foreigners have entered the country to traffic in diamonds.

The government has said that of approximately 290,000 diamond traffickers in Angola, 90,000 are foreigners, mostly from the DRC, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone.