The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has deported 114 Chinese and Filipino nationals after immigration checks in the southeastern mining provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga.
According to 7sur7, the Directorate-General for Migration (DGM) carried out the operation between October 15 and 18, targeting foreigners alleged to be staying in the country without valid documentation. 70 people were removed from Kolwezi, Lualaba’s capital, and 44 from Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga.
The final group departed early on October 18 from Luano International Airport in Lubumbashi on an Ethiopian Airlines flight transiting through Addis Ababa.
The deportations come as authorities intensify migration and mineral-sector controls in the DRC’s copper and cobalt-producing belt. The group included 24 Chinese nationals detained during a routine check in Lubumbashi and four Filipinos identified in Kolwezi.
The move follows a separate expulsion on September 23, when the DGM removed seven Chinese nationals from Lualaba over their suspected involvement in an irregular scheme to purchase minerals from concessions operated by mining companies in the province.
The latest operation coincided with tensions in Kolwezi, where artisanal miners protested controls at mineral-processing sites and buying counters, with reports of road blockades and fires in outlying areas. Local reporting linked the unrest to the broader enforcement climate surrounding the deportations.
