Omusati shares drought relief with 2 300 Angolans
Three months after Angolan authorities told their Namibian counterparts that the issue of starving refugees will be attended to, thousands of their nationals remain in the country - at the mercy of local communities.
TUYEIMO HAIDULA
OSHAKATI
Omusati governor Erginus Endjala yesterday said his region is forced to share its drought relief food with starving Angolans who flocked to Namibia in March seeking refuge from hunger in their country.
This is almost two months after the Angolan government - through Cunene provincial governor Gerdina Ulipamwe Didalelwa - asked its nationals to return home so they can be assisted.
In May, the number of illegal migrants in the Omusati Region stood at 1 250, while Ohangwena had 150 Angolan nationals. These are those the Namibian government managed to record as there may be others who entered the country illegally and failed to present themselves to camps where their compatriots live.
Didalelwa in May said at first her government was informed that its people were in Namibia in search for jobs, but it later established that it was because of the water and food crisis back in that country that they abandoned their homes. She said 590 000 people in Angola are affected by the drought.
Higher numbers
Yesterday, Endjala said the most recent update he got suggests that the region now has 2 328 Angolan nationals. Of this number, 1 400 are children aged between zero and 10, he said.
Namibian Sun could not establish the current figure in Ohangwena as the region’s governor, Walde Ndevashiya, was not reachable.
Endjala said the Angolan nationals are refusing to go back to their country because of uncertainty, saying their government perpetually makes empty promises.
He said elderly refugees indicated that they are willing to go back to their country when it starts raining again and have requested the Namibian government to provide them with seeds for harvesting.
“The situation is very worrying. The Angolan government is quiet. The consulate has not made attempts to reach out. Since May, there was no contact made with us to tell us what the way forward is,” Endjala said.
Good Samaritans
“The slaughtering of cows [for the refugees by the Namibian government] has stopped because we could not sustain it and we depend on Good Samaritans to feed these people.
“We now only provide them with drought relief food but Omusati will soon stop because the region also has its residents living in the southern parts hardest hit by the drought,” Endjala said.
He pointed out that Angolan president João Lourenço visited the Cunene province on Sunday, which Namibian authorities hope will result in solutions to ease the burden on government.
Endjala said for now, they have moved the refugees to a more conducive area close to the Lutheran church at Etunda.
“There is camp there which they have erected themselves. We unfortunately cannot give them tents as that would make the arrangement too permanent and that is not what we want,” he stressed.
Efforts to get comment from the Angolan consulate in Namibia proved futile.
[email protected]
OSHAKATI
Omusati governor Erginus Endjala yesterday said his region is forced to share its drought relief food with starving Angolans who flocked to Namibia in March seeking refuge from hunger in their country.
This is almost two months after the Angolan government - through Cunene provincial governor Gerdina Ulipamwe Didalelwa - asked its nationals to return home so they can be assisted.
In May, the number of illegal migrants in the Omusati Region stood at 1 250, while Ohangwena had 150 Angolan nationals. These are those the Namibian government managed to record as there may be others who entered the country illegally and failed to present themselves to camps where their compatriots live.
Didalelwa in May said at first her government was informed that its people were in Namibia in search for jobs, but it later established that it was because of the water and food crisis back in that country that they abandoned their homes. She said 590 000 people in Angola are affected by the drought.
Higher numbers
Yesterday, Endjala said the most recent update he got suggests that the region now has 2 328 Angolan nationals. Of this number, 1 400 are children aged between zero and 10, he said.
Namibian Sun could not establish the current figure in Ohangwena as the region’s governor, Walde Ndevashiya, was not reachable.
Endjala said the Angolan nationals are refusing to go back to their country because of uncertainty, saying their government perpetually makes empty promises.
He said elderly refugees indicated that they are willing to go back to their country when it starts raining again and have requested the Namibian government to provide them with seeds for harvesting.
“The situation is very worrying. The Angolan government is quiet. The consulate has not made attempts to reach out. Since May, there was no contact made with us to tell us what the way forward is,” Endjala said.
Good Samaritans
“The slaughtering of cows [for the refugees by the Namibian government] has stopped because we could not sustain it and we depend on Good Samaritans to feed these people.
“We now only provide them with drought relief food but Omusati will soon stop because the region also has its residents living in the southern parts hardest hit by the drought,” Endjala said.
He pointed out that Angolan president João Lourenço visited the Cunene province on Sunday, which Namibian authorities hope will result in solutions to ease the burden on government.
Endjala said for now, they have moved the refugees to a more conducive area close to the Lutheran church at Etunda.
“There is camp there which they have erected themselves. We unfortunately cannot give them tents as that would make the arrangement too permanent and that is not what we want,” he stressed.
Efforts to get comment from the Angolan consulate in Namibia proved futile.
[email protected]
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