Congolese refugees ‘prefer death’ to returning to Nam

AFTER nearly two weeks in a single tent on the border between Namibia and Botswana, a 41-strong group of Congolese refugees remains adamant they would ‘rather die’ than return to Namibia.

This is in answer to unofficial rumblings on the Botswana side that they may be forcibly removed from that country’s Mamuno border soon.When The Namibian visited the group at the border on Friday, spokesperson Joel Kabangu Mwamba had little praise for the country from where they started their exodus.They are even claiming they would refuse any further help from the Red Cross in Namibia or the United Nations High Commission for Regugees (UNHCR).By yesterday however, following a visit by UNHCR Country Representative Joyce Mends-Cole on Friday, tempers appeared to have simmered, and the group was back on good terms with those organisations.The Red Cross, the UNHCR and the Botswanan government have all assisted the group with items such as food and a tent for shelter while they remain on ‘no-man’s land’.Botswanan officials spoken to at the border said only that no official decision in dealing with the situation had yet been reached.’All we can tell you is that our government’s position is very clear on this one. They will not enter here without the valid documents,’ one border official told The Namibian.The group, who call themselves the Association of the Voiceless (AV), fled Namibia with the help of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) more than a week ago, citing security concerns at the Osire Refugee Camp where they had been residing, many for the past decade.They further claim that the Namibian government responded to their written complaints about the conditions at the Osire camp with attacks and further threats on their security.As evidence, they quote from a response letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, in which they were told to ‘stop writing sensational articles’ which apparently constituted a threat to national peace and security, or face being requested to leave Namibia.’We took it as we were basically expelled by the Namibian government, and we decided to look for where we could go for safety instead,’ said another group member, Bibich Mwenze.The group claimed that, since starting the AV to address apparent human rights violations in the Osire camp, their lives were apparently endangered.The NSHR, the group said, helped them after they came to Windhoek from Osire some 220 km northeast of the capital, and after days of camping outside of the human rights organisation’s head office.The only travel documents carried by the group were refugee arrival forms they were granted upon their entry in Namibia, which permitted their stay at Osire.Mends-Cole visited the site on Friday, where according to Mwamba, ‘she failed to convince us to return to Namibia’.