Some 25 Cameroonians including three unaccompanied minors who left the country clandestinely and were stranded at the Mediterranean route have voluntarily returned back to the country.
This voluntary return last July 29 was made possible thanks to a joint initiative by the European Union and the International Organisation for Migration as announced by the latter which will equally take care of their protection and reintegration into the society.
The migrants arrived at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport and were welcomed by Cameroonian authorities and officials from the International Organisation for Migration who came to counsel them on how to easily be reintegrated in to the society.
This came after videos of a Cameroonian lady identified as Isabelle Merci Pouma who tried to cross over for a better life through the desert died on the way due to ill health and was buried there by those travelling with her went viral on social media.
Isabelle’s journey mates made the video to discourage those who intend to travel out of the country clandestinely.
Isabelle aged 37 and residing in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala where she owned a hair-dressing salon reportedly left the country in mid July according to family sources for greener pastures abroad.
The passed through the Far North to get to Nigeria, then Niger on their way to Tunisia where they were expected to cross over through Italy, a route migrants are accustomed with. Unfortunatedly for the 37-year-old, when they got to the desert, she took ill and her situation worsened.
After four days agonising and slowing the journey, Isabelle reportedly breathed her last. The family has been making moves to get her body back to Cameroon for proper burial.
For several years now, the Cameroonian government has undertaken to fight illegal immigration. In June 2017, the country joined the EU-IOM Trust Fund for the Protection and Reintegration of Migrants.
An initiative of more than 66 billion FCFA that involves 14 African countries aims to support the socio-economic reintegration of returning migrants and raise awareness among potential migrants and their communities about the dangers of irregular migration.
S.K.
