Feet of Cameroonian migrant chopped off in Algeria

A Cameroonian migrant, Alphonse Atibonkive, went to an Algerian hospital for treatment, woke up and realised the hospital’s doctors had amputated his feet.

He said the doctors cut off his feet to stop him from migrating through their country to Europe, where he was heading for greener pastures.

They told him they didn’t want blacks at the hospital when he arrived there for treatment.

This was after Algerian border police brutalized and severely injured his legs.

Alphonse Atibonkiveb told Channel 4 News that the Algerian border police beat him and other Cameroonian migrants.

Twenty-five members of his migration team died in the bush where Algerian border guards left them, after they were repelled from Tunisia.

“When they arrested us, we straightened our feet and they beat the soles. That is why my feet were swollen,” Atibonkive tol Channel 4 News.

“When I was taken back to El Menia for treatment, the doctors asked me why I came back, saying they had restricted all blacks from visiting the place.

“I told them I was not there to stay permanently, but that I was just passing by.

“They said they would do something that would make me never to return to Algeria so they cut off my legs,” he said.

A video Channel 4 News released on Tuesday shows Alphonse’s two feet bandaged after they were chopped off to ankle level.

He also had strange scars on his thighs, which he said resulted from “unnecessary operations” conducted at the El Menia hospital.

Deadly Migration Route

Thousands of sub-Saharan Africans seek passage through Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria yearly to Europe.

They are running away from conflict, poverty, persecution and harsh economic conditions. But the journey has often been very tough and deadly.

This year, over 2,384 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean sea while struggling to reach Europe, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported.

Aside from the turbulent Mediterranean waters, migrants sometimes face death and inhumane treatment from the governments of North African nations.

Countries like Algeria have a long history of maltreating black migrants.

In 2013, 92 sub-Saharan migrants were found dead in the desert between Algeria and Niger.

According to the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), Algeria expulsed more than 7,000 migrants between March and April this year.

“These migrants are subject to torture and ill-treatment. They are arbitrarily arrested and detained with no procedural guarantees,” OMCT said.

“Migrants are transported to the border, where they are abandoned without food or water in extreme weather conditions. During detention and transportation, security forces seize documents and belongings and physically and sexually abuse migrants,” the organisation added.

Mimi Mefo Info