Osire's refugee child brides

Girls as young as nine are married off by their parents at the Osire refugee camp, a parliamentary oversight visit has discovered. Since the phasing out of the Namibia Red Cross Society at the camp, officials can no longer trace the origins of separated and unaccompanied children who are resident in the camp.Parliament member Leevi Katoma tabled a report on an oversight visit to Osire refugee camp in the National Assembly last week. In his report, he stated that “some believe that when a girl is nine, she is already independent. There is also the cultural belief that parents can give away the girl-child to a man already at the age of nine.”According to the report, the majority of the refugees and asylum seekers at the camp are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Zimbabwe.The visit, that was made during August last year by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, also found that a 60-year-old woman cohabitated with a young man in order to acquire legal documents to live in the country.According to Katoma, abuse and discrimination of women by men is also a serious issue at the camp.In his motivation speech, Katoma urged the gender, safety and security, health and education ministries to visit refugee settlement as soon as possible. The Ombudsman, John Walters, was appalled by the findings and said he will certainly look into the matter. “There is no possible reason for a nine-year-old girl to be married off,” he said. EducationThe report further found that the teacher-learner ratio at the refugee camp is 1:70, and that there is no support staff such as cleaners or secretary at the school.There is also no accommodation for the teachers. “At the time of the visit, five teachers were sleeping in the library and officers.”The report added that the education ministry has constructed flats for accommodation but that these are not enough. Health The report further found that refugees from DRC refuse to take Panado tablets and insist on particular medication from nurses at the local clinic.It was also found that tablets are discarded by some of the refugees and they also fail to go for follow-up visits. “Some of the refugees and asylum seekers have certain beliefs or religious views with regards to health treatment. They are influenced by so-called pastors, who have established small churches at the settlement, not to take certain medication or health treatment,” the report stated. It also pointed out that there are at least 32 churches at Osire refugee camp.“Some pregnant women are locked up during the day, citing that it is their culture from their home countries,” read the report. It was also found that there is almost no culture of using condoms among some Congolese nationals and as a result, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is increasing in the camp. JEMIMA BEUKES

Osire's refugee child brides

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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Osire's refugee child brides

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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