Cameroon’s authorities say the preventive measure was dictated by the growing threat from the Nigerian Boko Haram terrorist organization, and affected only foreign nationals who resided in Cameroon illegally, Kenya’s Africa Review reported on Friday.
Albert Mekondané Obounou, the prefect of Cameroon’s Logone and Chari Division, said: “They are foreign nationals without valid documents. We are working towards identifying those who are living with us [legally]. The expulsion concerns only foreign nationals without valid documents.”
The Nigerian nationals, who were part of a larger group, ferried to Mayo-Oulo on border with Nigeria and handed over to the Nigerian authorities in the neighbouring town of Mubi in Adamawa state.
Commenting, a Cameroonian security source said: “We decided to send home all foreigners without valid papers. Other countries of the sub-region involved in the fight against Boko Haram had advocated this solution to truly fight against the terrorists who infiltrate people.”
Those Nigerians who faced expulsion called the action “inhumane”.
Only 5,289 Nigerian refugees out of 8,128 in Cameroon’s Far North region are registered by the UNHCR. Cameroonian security sources say the crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals will continue. So far, refugees from Chad, Mali have faced similar fate.
