300 000 smugglers deported
2004-12-29 21:24
Luanda - Some 300 000 illegal immigrants dealing in smuggled diamonds were deported this year from the diamond rich Luanda Norte province, the region's governor said over national radio on Wednesday.
"If one takes into account that each of these expelled foreigners freely sent out diamonds .... the losses run into millions of dollars,"said Gomes Maiato.
Mining minister Manuel Africano last month said Angola was losing $1m daily due to a flourishing illicit trade in diamonds.
Angola launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants involved in shady diamond deals in December last year and nearly 500 000 people - mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo - have been deported so far.
The expulsions had sparked a wave of accusations that the government was xenophobic but Luanda dismissed the charge saying it was targeting only those who were stealing the country's national resources.
A former Portuguese colony, Angola is one of Africa's top oil and diamond producers. Luanda now plans to more than double its annual output to 15 000 carats from the current level of 6 000 carats.