Hiiraan Online
Monday August 24, 2015
LUANDA (HOL) -----Police in the Angolan capital Luanda have detained as many as 100 Somali national as parts of efforts to deter illegal immigrants working in southwestern African nation, community official said on Sunday.
Mohamed Deq Dhiblawe, a spokesman for the Somali community in Angola told reporters that most of the arrested Somalis were business people in different towns in Angola due to lack of proper documents.
“They were taken from their business premises, some of them were tortured and others were denied of food in jails.” Dhiblawe said referring to the Somali nationals arrested by Angolan police.
The spokesman says the arrests are parts of a secret plan by foreign traders who bribed police to expel Somali business people who have created booming businesses in Angola.
The booming, oil-rich African country of Angola has attracted many immigrants trying to make businesses after a long, devastating civil war. For Somalis arriving in Angola, a decade of peace has transformed the desirability of taking part in sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest economy.
Last year, a Video footage showing a group of police officers in Luanda brutally beating dozens of detained immigrants with batons surfaced on the internet. Some of the victims were heavily bleeding as result of brutal beating and at one point one immigrant fell unconscious.
Rights groups often accuse Angolan police of employing brutal tactics to deter immigrants in the country. Thousands of immigrants are languishing in Angolan jails for years without charges or trial.