Cameroon, Chad organize search operations to track down suspects

The authorities of both Cameroon and Chad have organised search operations to track down suspects of recent attacks on Chad, as well as on illegal immigrants.

Chadian police turned away dozens of Cameroonians on Friday in N'Djamena and among those repatriated were mostly women who arrived in Kousseri, the Cameroonian city neighbouring N'Djamena. They had gone to the Chadian capital in search of a livelihood.

The Prefect of Logone-Et-Chari department, Albert Mekondane Obounou, who spoke to us on phone, says it is a routine operation adding, "Kousseri and N'djamena are twin cities, it cannot be a problem between the two countries, it is nothing. This is about putting things right."

According to an official on duty at the Nguéli Bridge, who preferred not to be named, "many Cameroonians go to Chad for business purposes. Both for small businesses or even for other things which are not polite to mention."

There are also people who go there without precise objective. "They spend the time walking in a foreign country anyhow and do anything and that is very dangerous," explained the prefect of Logone-Et-Chari. It is with this fact and in order to end this mess that in recent weeks, Cameroonian and Chadian authorities have agreed to increase the control operations in their respective territories to apprehend illegal aliens.

In the case of Chad, the search operations have multiplied following the twin bombings of 15 June 2015 which killed 23 people and injured many others in the heart of N'Djamena. Last Friday, police cordoned off certain areas of N'Djamena in order to track down illegal immigrants. This operation enabled them to apprehend several foreigners, mostly Cameroonians, Nigeriens, Malians, Nigerians and Central Africans. All were taken under escort to the Ngueli bridge and sent to Kousseri.

On the Cameroonian side, forty Chadians living in an illegal situation in Kousseri were identified. According to the Prefect of Logone-Et-Chari, these "undocumented" people were expected to join their territory latest on Monday, but due to the last attack that hit the city of N'Djamena, leaving 11 people including five police officers dead, their departure was slightly delayed.

A similar operation is underway in other cities in Cameroon. In the town of Pette about fifty kilometers from Maroua, in the Diamaré department, a dozen Chadians returned to Chad. The Prefect, Ernest Ewango Budu, confirming this information evokes a simple operation by Cameroonian officials in charge of matters of migration.

The Cameroonian authorities stress that it is not to challenge the Community principle of the free movement of persons in the CEMAC zone, but a residence permit control operation.