LUANDA, April 24, 2013 (AFP) - UN High Commissioner for Refugees Navi Pillay on Wednesday called for an inquiry into reports of violence and sexual abuse of migrants crossing over from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pillay, speaking in a news conference in the Angolan capital during a three-day visit, said such allegations had been circulating for a decade.
"I received indications that sexual abuse of female migrants is continuing," she said. "While the scale of the problem may be disputed, one rape is a rape too many, especially when carried out by a member of the security forces who ought to be protecting civilians from crimes."
She said a "full and transparent" cross-border probe was overdue, and police and border guards needed to be trained to learn that such crimes "will not be tolerated".
Angola each year expels thousands of DR Congo citizens working illegally in diamond mines in its north.
Pillay said that, while Angola had a right to deport excess immigrants, it "must do so humanely and in full compliance with international human right laws and standards".
Pillay's visit to Angola came just over a year after one by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who in February 2012 called for Angola and the DRC to resolve their problems.
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