A high-level meeting of officials from Namibia, Angola and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR started in Windhoek yesterday to map out the voluntary repatriation of over 20 000 Angolan refugee to their country.

But Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Niilo Taapopi said the talks did not cover those detained at Dordabis, about 100 km east of Windhoek.

The repatriation of Angolan refugees is expected to start early next year under a tripartite commission comprised of the UNHCR and the Namibian and Angolan authorities.

"The Dordabis 78 are not part of the (repatriation) agreement," said Taapopi.

He said the detainees would not form part of the tripartite discussions despite a blanket amnesty granted to Unita rebels under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Angolan government and Unita in April.

Nisa de Fatima, an Angolan government official responsible for repatriation affairs, said the Dordabis detainees would be dealt with at the political level of the joint Namibian-Angolan Commission on Defence and Security.

Taapopi said the Home Affairs Ministry would allow the UNHCR to carry out an inspection to determine whether there were genuine Angolan refugees among those detained at Dordabis.

"I hope we are not going to agree to disagree. Let us form an agreement acceptable to all the parties," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo, his Angolan counterpart Joao Baptista Kasuma and UNHCR resident Representative in Namibia, Hesdy Rathling, are expected to sign a document this week which will pave the way for the repatriation of Angolan refugees.

De Fatima said the agreement should be such that "the repatriation can be carried out according to internationally accepted standards".

"We request patience from the Namibian Government until we are sure that we have created the condition for their safe return by before the end of this year," she said.

She said the exercise was expected to start before "the first quarter of next year".

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