Guinea Arrests 1,263 in Illegal Gold Mining Crackdown as Mali Reports About 160,000 Expelled People Arriving
CONAKRY — Guinea's ministries of defence and security said in a joint statement dated November 7 that 1,263 people suspected of illegal gold panning have been arrested in a crackdown in the northeastern gold-producing region of Siguiri. A ban on unregulated and clandestine artisanal and small-scale mining took effect in the Siguiri region on November 2.
The statement said those arrested included citizens of Guinea as well as Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Niger, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The administration of President Mamadi Doumbouya says the crackdown addresses environmental destruction from unregulated gold extraction, including land degradation and pollution of waterways. Guinea is rich in mineral resources, particularly gold and bauxite.
The operation has triggered a large cross-border movement. Mali said on November 7 that it had taken in around 160,000 people expelled from Guinea since the operations began, warning of a humanitarian emergency. Malian authorities also reported six deaths in the border town of Kourémalé and said some displaced people had sustained injuries. Those figures are as reported by the Malian side.
Burkina Faso said more than 8,000 Burkinabe gold miners had been expelled from Guinea and that it had begun repatriating its citizens. Burkina Faso's Security Minister Mahamadou Sana criticised the manner of the operation, alleging that compatriots had suffered injuries and deaths and questioning Guinea's failure to coordinate with Ouagadougou. Those are Burkina Faso's characterisations of the operation.
(Source: Guinea Ministries of Defence and Security)
Source: Guinea Ministries of Defence and Security
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：几内亚首都科纳克里的科纳克里自治港（资料照片）。Flucco 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Autonomous Port of Conakry in Guinea's capital Conakry (file photo). By Flucco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
