More than 1,500 citizens from West African countries were repatriated to their countries of origin after being tried and convicted for illegal exploitation of gold, reports AFP.
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15/11/2026
by
Lusa
Mthe AFP reports that 1,500 citizens from West African countries were repatriated to their countries of origin after being tried and convicted for illegal exploitation of gold.
According to the French news agency, France-Presse (AFP), 1,558 citizens of this region were taken on 44 trucks arriving today in Kourémalé, a border town between Guinea and Mali, after leaving the Guinean capital Conakry on Saturday.
These citizens of various nationalities, including Burkina Faso and Mali, had been detained in several mining sites in this country bordering northwest Guinea-Bissau as part of an operation launched by the authorities against illegal gold exploitation.
After the trial in Conakry and their sentences ranging from 18 months to 2 years of effective imprisonment, they were granted a release measure accompanied by a decision to expel Guinean territory.
Since the beginning of November, Guinea has intensified operations against clandestine exploitation, particularly in the Siguiri region in the north-east of the country, very rich in gold resources.
The government accuses this activity of causing significant environmental damage and claims to want to end the anarchic exploitation of mining resources.
This decision led the defence and security forces to repatriate tens of thousands of West African citizens who had come to work in the mines in the region.
Illegal gold exploitation is often a survival activity for these citizens, pushed by poverty in their countries or expelled from the golden regions of their respective countries due to conflicts, particularly in Mali, writes AFP, which adds that the delivery of the people expelled from the country took place without incident.
On Saturday, the collective ‘Living Forces of Guinea’ (FVG), which brings together the main opposition parties and civil society organizations, denounced an “authoritarian bias” in Guinea and the use of force “transformed into a method of government”, after the death of 10 people in clashes between the forces of the order and prospectors.