Cameroons may have had good reasons to escape

Information Minister Melford Nicholas says the Cameroonians living in Antigua and Barbuda were living under undesirous circumstances, ranging from exploitation and mistreatment from residents, which may have led them to take that dangerous trip.

About 13 Cameroonians are still missing after a French fishing boat that was on its way to transport 30 of them to the US Virgin Islands on Tuesday sank. Only 16 people were rescued. Three dead bodies were recovered.

Nicholas told reports on Thursday during a press briefing that the government had received reports that these men and women were given a degree of hospitality but were treated badly in some cases.

“The vast majority of persons that we know have been hospitable and they have responded to the need to provide that type of comfort and assurance…Persons who were a part of the group of 600 stranded have been given a degree of hospitality,” Nicholas said.

Nicholas added that a number of these Cameroonians were provided with jobs by several businesses but have “told the tale in the background.

“And I think it’s critical for us to understand the conditions that may have led them to take a decision, a risky decision to go to another land…They have also told a story of areas where they have been exploited. They have lived in clustered environments…They have been exploited insofar as rent and other measures are concerned”.

He said notwithstanding the government’s decision to provide legal means of staying here, “all may not have been well with them. And in consequence, they may have been motivated to seek greener pastures. It’s not a question of trying to place blame, that is just the reality of what we’re dealing with,” he said

Adding, “the government is not casting any blame in aspersions. It’s a multifaceted issue that’s going to continue to affect our discourses concerning this particular development”,  he added.

Meanwhile search and rescue are no longer looking for survivors. Instead, they are searching for bodies that could have been washed up.

The Chief of Defense Staff of the Antigua and Barbuda Colonel Telbert Benjamin said the “vessel went down in relatively deep water, and so recovery … might be a bit of a challenge”.