-Victims of the Kuwiat/Lebanon saga make
public their experiences in Yaounde
Bush falling to some Arab countries has
reportedly not been a fruitful adventure to most Cameroonian young girls who
for one reason or the other decided to seek for greener pastures in Arab
countries uncertain of the course of their unknown adventure. Cases of
Cameroonian young girls who have fallen victims to recent Arabic networks of
human trafficking and slavery have since 2014 caught centre stage of
discussions in the country following testimonies from some of these victims who
successfully flee from their masters. The sad stories recounted of this
expenditure leaves very unpleasant images of the torture, sexual harassment and
the inhuman conditions that Cameroonian girls are expose to mainly in Kuwait
and Lebanon. But what is even more painful is the uncertainty of the survival
of other victims who are still caught in the trap of slavery to their Arab
masters and reduced to such in human treatment with no possibility to flee or
get access to some rescue measures under way recently.
The arrival of four new victims received
by the minister of social affairs warranted the need by the government to
create greater public awareness of the prevalence of such human trafficking
networks and to sensitize young girls and youths in general wishing to seek for
Eldorado’s abroad to be cautious of such illegal net works and get officially
registered in the concerned diplomatic zone before embankment. For proper
dissemination of this information, the ministers of youth affairs, women and
the family, and the minister of communication summoned these girls in a press
conference last week in Yaoundé to make public their testimonies. courageously,
these girls including Angelina Mbessa a hair dresser, Ache Dassi a mother of
two kids and EditteTalla a social worker shared mixed experiences which drained
the mines of many journalists and others invitees to pity. Tickled by their sad
experiences and some of the reasons they presented for pushing them to travel
including, unemployment and early marriages like was the case of Ache Dassi,
journalist were eager to know the position of the government as concerns the
social reinsertion of these girls in their fatherland, and other measures
initiated to improve the plight of young girls and create better employment
opportunities to youths in general.
Government spokes person the minister of communication acknowledged that
government recognizes her mission to help Cameroonians trapped in human
trafficking and other unpleasant situations in foreign countries. Adding that
like it was the case in central Africa and Equatorial Guinea where the head of
state dispatched a plane to bring back all Cameroonians wishing to return to
their country, the case of Kuwait and Lebanon will not be different. But
according to him, other measures need first to be put in place. Firstly, visas
to Kuwait have been suspended, a prime ministerial meeting was convoked to
track down all false recruitment and travelling agencies whereby the ministry
of external relations is already highly implicated. According to
representatives from the ministry of external relations invited to the
conference, a diplomatic delegation was dispatched in 2015 to sensitize
authorities in the said countries about the reported situations Cameroonians in
their territory. As concerns the issue of diplomatic coverage, it was clarified
that Cameroon has a functional consulate in Lebanon and although there is no
diplomatic representation of Cameroon in Kuwait, there is a Cameroonian embassy
in Saudi Arabia which visits Kuwait at least once a month to take stock of the
prevailing situation in Kuwait. It was also revealed that through the ministry
of external relations, a government shelter has been created in Kuwait to
receive all Cameroonians wishing to return to their country and presently a
total of 15 girls are already at the shelter awaiting repatriation.
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