Day: September 9, 2021

Authorities in Cameroon say they are attempting to remove thousands of children working in gold mines along the country’s eastern border. Some of the children were displaced from the Central African Republic because of violence there and dropped out of school to mine gold for survival.

The 2021-2022 school year in Cameroon started Monday, and Cameroon’s Ministry of Basic Education says thousands of children have not returned to class in areas along the border with the Central African Republic.

The government says many of the children prefer working in gold mines.

Auberlin d’Abou Mbelessa is mayor of Batouri, a town on the border.

Mbelessa said his district wants all children to immediately leave gold mining sites and go to schools. He said village chiefs and religious leaders in Batouri have been asked to visit all houses, markets, farms, churches, mosques and mining sites to tell everyone that without education the future of children looks barren.

Mbelessa said at least 300 of the children and teenagers are Central African Republic citizens displaced by violence and insecurity following the C.A.R.’s December 2020 general election.

Among the kids who have refused to leave mining sites is 15-year-old Joseph Goumba. Goumba said he fled from the C.A.R. in January when rebels attacked the town of Bossangoa to protest the reelection of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.

He said he relies solely on gold mining for a living.

Goumba says education is the best thing a child can be given but his preoccupation is to raise money and send it to his poor mother whose old age could not permit her to escape from the C.A.R. He said his father, who escaped with him, died in a gold mine in July and he has no one to count on for food and school needs.

Goumba said he earns $4 after 24 hours of work. Cameroon says there are over 400 mining sites on its eastern border, a majority of them illegal.

Corine Mvondo is a government labor official in Batouri. She said Cameroon will punish people who stop children from going to school.

She said Cameroon is a signatory to the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention which was adopted by the International Labor Organization on June 17, 1999. She said a 2011 Cameroonian law states that people involved in child labor are liable to prison time of 15 to 20 years and fines of up to $20,000.

Life in the gold mines is dangerous. The government says 27 miners died in May due to landslides.

Cameroon has promised to offer free primary education to children who leave the mines. But some of the children say they lack food and books. The government has not said if it will provide those things if the children return to school.

Source: Voice of America

Leaders of the BRICS nations discussed Afghanistan at a virtual summit Thursday, with participants underscoring the importance of preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil to stage attacks on other countries.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the five-nation group that comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The talks come weeks after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan led to a geopolitical shift in Asia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro joined Modi for the online summit.

Speaking at the opening of the summit, Putin said the withdrawal of the United States and its allies from Afghanistan “has led to a new crisis” and the “entire international community will have to clear up the mess as a result.”

He said the situation stemmed from “irresponsible attempts to impose alien values from outside and this intention to build so-called democracy” without taking into account historical features and traditions resulting in “destabilization and chaos.”

In wrapping up the summit, the BRICS nations called for “refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means to ensure stability in the country.”

Afghanistan is of major concern to three of the five countries in the group – Russia, India and China.

Putin said the country should not become a threat to its neighbors or a source of terrorism and drug trafficking.

In late August, the U.S. completed a withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war.

Observers say China and Russia will use the opportunity to step into the void left by the U.S., although Moscow is wary of the Islamist ideology of the Taliban and the threat posed by foreign militant groups to Central Asia.

India’s concern

New Delhi, meanwhile, finds itself isolated with the takeover by the Taliban, which has long been an anti-India group. New Delhi has emphasized that its main concern is about Afghan territory being used by terror groups that target India such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The group adopted what it called a Counter Terrorism Action Plan and said in its declaration, “We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country.”

The statement also emphasized the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of children, women and minorities.

The summit, held for a second year in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed “regret” at the glaring inequity in access to vaccines, especially for the most vulnerable populations, and highlighted the need for access to affordable shots for the world’s poorest.

The declaration also said cooperation on the study of the origins of the coronavirus is an important aspect of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus causes COVID-19.

The BRICS group was formed to enhance cooperation among the world’s major emerging economies, which account for 40% of the global population and 25% of global gross domestic product. Their first summit was held in 2009.

Source: Voice of America

The West African bloc ECOWAS has suspended Guinea’s membership after a military coup that removed President Alpha Conde. ECOWAS leaders on Wednesday urged Guinea’s coup leaders to release Conde and return to constitutional order. The West African bloc plans to send a high-level mission to Guinea to try to mediate the situation.

Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Alpha Barry, announced the suspension late Wednesday after a virtual extraordinary meeting of all 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States.

ECOWAS leaders at the meeting demanded the immediate release of Guinea’s ousted president Alpha Condé and his return to power.

They also said a mediation mission will be sent to Guinea on Thursday to facilitate a return to constitutional order.

Military forces led by lieutenant colonel Mamady Doumbouya overthrew president Condé’s government on Sunday, sparking widespread criticism from leaders including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

Godbless Otubure is the global president of Ready to Lead Africa, a nonprofit promoting constitutional democracy. He says Conde was the one threatening order in Guinea.

“People’s freedoms, people’s ways of life and capacity to make decisions based on consensus have all been lost because one man’s ambition had become too detrimental to the health of the democratic expression in Guinea,” he said.

Condé, 83, became the first democratic president to be elected in Guinea in 2010 and was reelected in 2015.

But last year, he modified the country’s constitution allowing him a chance at a third term in office. His victory at the polls was largely disputed and led to protests that killed dozens of people in October.

General Secretary of the West African Civil Society Forum, Komlan Messie, says ECOWAS failed to act when it ought to.

“Modifying the constitution is a constitutional coup, we condemn military coup but also we condemn constitutional coup. At that moment we would have expected ECOWAS to do the same thing they’re doing today,” he said.

In May, ECOWAS suspended Mali for its second coup in months, after a military coup last August ousted Mali’s former leader Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

Otubure and Messie say coups in Africa nations are setting back years of democracy in the region and impeding growth.

Source: Voice of America