Hundreds of foreigners stranded in Angola

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Friday April 28, 2006 19:44 by Erin McGann

Passport office holds the key to freedom

Foreigners in Angola left high and dry as passports are detained. The situation is the result of restructuring the passport office in Luanda. This all comes at a time of inceasing unease in Angola's political climate. There have been reports of passports having been detained for up to two months now and still no sign of them being returned. Hundreds of foreigners, wishing to return to Europe and other destinations have had to cancel flights as a result of the confusion.

Foreigners are unable to leave Angola and return to Europe because their passports are being withheld by the Angolan authorities. In some cases, the authorities have withheld passports for three months without returning them. There has been no explanation given to the victims of this passport siege. The situation is extremely frustrating as living in Angola, you must have an official ID on your person at all times. If this is not the case, it's easy to fall victim to corrupt police doing spot checks, hunting for bribes to boost their meager salaries.

However, corrupt police are not the least of your worries, there are also corrupt officials working in the passport office. These people are taking advantage of panicked foreigners in search of their documents and promise to return them for a price. They subsequently dissappear with the money and the foreigner chump is left with nothing but a phone number that's never answered.

What are the reasons for such a clandestine operation?
Why are law-abiding, legal foreigners being detained in Angola?