How many Togolese people live outside the country? The state has announced the start of the census of the diaspora, which should last for three months. This census of the diaspora – which has never been done – provokes controversy and fears, especially within the political opposition.
Get to know the diaspora better so that it can participate in the development of Togo. This is the main argument from the authorities.
“It is both a census to know the number of Togolese abroad and also an opportunity for the government to identify the Togolese’s skills to encourage them to return to Togo and contribute to the development of Togo,” said Robert Dussey, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Private information, information that is considered confidential … Within the opposition, some believe that this census of the diaspora has only one goal, to control all votes that oppose President Faure Gnassingbé.
“It is above all to identify the potential of the diaspora that can fund the struggle. We take it as an intelligence instrument to try to meet, control, manipulate this diaspora. That is why we are completely hermetic to an approach that comes from the government “, answers Karl Gaba, coordinator of the Togo Debout Citizen Front.
Critics swept Robert Dussey. “We are not shocked. We notice that some people still do not understand. I think that with pedagogy we will get there,” he insists.
The state estimates that between one and a half million and two million Togolese people live abroad, especially in West Africa.
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