{{Republic of Congo has expelled more than 50,000 citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past month, authorities in Kinshasa said on Thursday, a move rare on this scale in the relations between the two neighbours.}}
Officials in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, said the operation is aimed at ending a crime wave linked to foreigners, and that all those living in the country illegally, not just those from the DRC, were being targeted.
The Kinshasa government has expressed concern about the way in which the operation was being carried out but said it is seeking to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels.
“As of yesterday, we had counted 52,226 people expelled from Brazzaville,” Andre Kimbuta Yango, the governor of Kinshasa, told Reporters. The operation, dubbed the “Slap that hurts” in the local language, Lingala, began on April 3.
There are strong ethnic and commercial ties between the capitals of the two countries, which are separated by the Congo River. While there are sporadic political tensions, expulsions on this scale are rare.
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