00:02Hundreds of gold miners have started departing a location in Mali where they
00:07gathered after being expelled by neighboring Guinea. Trucks and buses are
00:12being used to transport the miners. At the site men wait to leave some with
00:17their luggage while others bought vehicles that have come to collect them.
00:21They were sent home after Guinean authorities launched a crackdown on
00:25illegal mining. Our boss didn't tell us that it was to work at a gold mine. We
00:33arrived in Burkina Faso and that's where our bosses picked us up. On the way I
00:38realized we had reached Mali. After passing through Mali we headed to Guinea Conakry.
00:43I said our boss because they didn't tell us we were going to do gold work. We said
00:49we wanted to go back but the boss refused. As for the transportation if we want to
00:54go back we have to ask our parents to send us a payment in advance before we
00:58can leave. Among those gathered in Wesindugu are nationals of Burkina Faso and
01:03Benin who will travel to Guinea to do work in gold mining. Groups of miners
01:08waited under tents resting or sharing meals. When we return to our country what
01:16we want is for the government to be able to fund us so we can do our job. There are
01:22people who have learned welding, carpentry, all that but they lack the means to open
01:27their workshops and work. On November 7th Malian authorities said they had received
01:41around 160,000 people expelled from Guinea since the start of the operations. They also reported
01:49six deaths in what they called a humanitarian emergency.
