2 400 Angolan refugees granted permanent residence

The deadline set for 2 400 Angolan refugees at the Osire refugee camp in the Otjozondjupa Region to be integrated into Namibian society has been extended by another month. This follows the delay in producing and delivering their passports ahead of the March 30 deadline. The Namibian government has granted them permanent residence. The refugees apply for the passports here in Namibia, but they are then produced in Angola and sent back to Namibia. The Angolan refugees will now have to wait another four weeks to be issued their passports, after they opted to be integrated into the Namibian regions of their choice. Their status will then change from refugees to permanent Namibian residents. Commissioner of Refugees in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, Nkrumah Mushelenga, said yesterday the delay is being caused by the long process. “The local integration process is already approved. It is just that the glitch caused between the production and delivery of these refugee passports is proving tricky, hence we had to shift the deadline by some extra weeks,” said Mushelenga. According to him, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has engaged with the governors of all 13 regions and they are ready to receive the refugees. Mushelenga told Namibian Sun that the most desired regions chosen by the refugees are Khomas, Otjozondjupa, Erongo, Oshana, Kavango and Ohangwena. “Some opted to move to the regions bordering their home country, while others chose regions they are most familiar with. “When integrated into these areas, they can now decide what they wish to do for their livelihoods, as they will no longer be assisted by the UNHCR.” Mushelenga added: “The UNHCR will only, at its discretion, choose to invest in viable projects undertaken by the former refugees, along with the support of the community they are living with.” He said their permanent residence status will enable them to apply for jobs within government or the private sector. They will also have access to free education and health services. The can also start their own businesses. “They will be treated like Namibians,” Mushelenga said. He that at the end of the present integration process, the UNHCR will begin talks with refugees hailing from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to replicate the same policy of repatriation or integration. “These talks will not only create and develop the desire for DRC refugees to return (to their country), but it will also focus on Burundians, Rwandans and Somalis... to assess whether they can safely move back or not. If the process is replicated... this will eventually see Namibia achieving its dreams of being a country without refugees.” Mushelenga reiterated that this process might be executed at a snail’s pace, because the SADC is working closely together to repatriate or integrate refugees in their respective countries. “The SADC is working closely with UNHCR, because we do not want a push factor in one country to be a pull factor in another. We want levelled ground for all refugees to be assured of their wellbeing where they currently accommodated, including their home countries.”