|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - Web posted at 9:20:59 AM GMT Fleeing Angolans to be given safe refuge NAMIBIAN soldiers at Rundu are today expected to hand over about 50 Angolans found in the combat zone in southern Angola to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. An immigration official yesterday confirmed the handover to allay the fears of some residents at Rundu who have reported "unidentified" people being "secretly detained" at the military base outside the Kavango regional capital since Sunday. The official said the people were Angolans who had asked Namibian soldiers to take them to the Osire refugee camp. The soldiers came across the asylum seekers during one of their cross-border raids in pursuit of Unita rebels. Residents at Rundu who alerted The Namibian that about 30 children under five years, close to 20 women with breastfeeding children and an old man were at the military base, said they were worried about their safety because of increasing reports of human rights abuses by Namibian soldiers in Angola." "The fear is we don't know where they are taking these people," said a source. Some soldiers said that the people were found at Mavinga, but others said the refugees told them they came from south-east Angola, 40km from Omega in western Caprivi. Sources have maintained Namibian soldiers have allegedly been "destroying" property in Angola, burning down houses, and harassing and even killing civilians. But General Peter Nambundunga, the NDF Chief of Staff, dismissed the accusations of harassment, saying "it can't be true. I don't think so". However, he said such reports would be "difficult to verify from this end". |
PO Box 20783 - Windhoek - 42 John Meinert Street Tel: +264 (61) 236970 - Fax: +264 (61) 233980 e-mail: info@namibian.com.na webmaster@namibian.com.na
|
