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- Members of Cry Refugee Women demonstrate
- Refugees Demand Camp’s Closure, Demonstrate on World Refugee Day
- Osire Camp Administrators Retaliate for Letter and Demonstration
- New Era on Refugees: ‘No Country, No Life’
- The Policy of Refugee Warehousing...
- Leadership Election in Osire Refugee Camp
- Commissioner: Refugees as Antidote to Brain Drain
- An Ode to "Human Rights Defender," Voice of Refugees, No. 24
- Government Denies Refugees Asylum, Rights
- Refugees Call on Donors to "Stop Donating" and Close Camp
- Know Your Rights!—ADR
- Court Acquits Refugee Anti-Warehousing Activists for Demonstration
- Police Shoot, Refugees Rebel at Osire
End Warehousing Statement Endorsers
World Refugee Survey
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Millennium Challenge Corporation FY07 Country Ranking
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Refugees Demand Camp’s Closure, Demonstrate on World Refugee Day
According to “’We Want to Live With Dignity’” in the June 20, 2008 Namibian,
[Richard Kayembe] Mutombo's frustration stems from the fact that since he arrived in Namibia from his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in December 2000, and his family a few years later, he hasn't had the opportunity to provide for them. … Refugees are provided with a monthly food basket, which Mutombo says is not nearly enough. "We aspire also to lead a decent life," he says, his voice faltering. …
What refugees like Richard Mutombo are mostly unhappy about is the fact that they live "in the middle of nowhere" without opportunities and adequate facilities. … What these refugees want is to either be resettled in a third country or to be integrated into Namibian society in order to live a "dignified life".
The refugees' cause has been taken up by groups like the Association of Voiceless at Osire Refugee Camp (AVORC), which on Wednesday, June 11, sent a petition to Government demanding the closure of Osire and the immediate resettlement or integration of refugees, saying the camp was a "non-priority". The petition also states that a protest will be held at the camp today, World Refugee Day.
"We are human beings," says Jean Ilungawa Ilunga, AVORC information officer. "We also need to work, we also need to study." AVORC claims refugees are treated like "animals" because they are kept in the bush behind a fence. …
The Association for Defence of Refugee Rights (ADR) has since 2002 been calling on authorities to "properly" register refugees, to allow them to get proper documents and have access to employment and other opportunities. … Referring to the theme of this year's World Refugee Day, which is 'Protection', [ADR’s] Selemani asks, "What protection do we need here? We just want to live dignified lives."
Osire Camp Administrators Retaliate for Letter and Demonstration
On June 12, 2008, the Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights wrote a letter to UNHCR, the Osire camp administrator, and a number of other officials requesting permission to hold a peaceful demonstration in the camp on World Refugee Day, June 20, and to present a petition to the authorities. Excerpts:
The indefensible practice and attitude of keeping the Osire Refugees/Asylum-seekers in Camp or segregated settlement, depriving them of some of their basic rights guaranteed in the UN Refugee Convention for years, and keeping them without hope of a normal life. Over the course of ADR’s 5 years history of advocating for the Osire Refugees/Asylum-seekers, we have observed more and more Osire Refugees/Asylum-seekers spending longer periods of time in the same situations, to the point that some of them have been warehoused for more than five or ten years without a valid Refugee Status Determination. …
Even when protracted Refugee/Asylum-seekers situation has received attention, the focus has been limited to the three durable solutions [with] little attention to how the Osire Community can ber afforded their Convention Rights while they are awaiting. The Refugees/Asylum-seekers are entitled to the Convention’s protection from the moment of their flight. Their exercise of these rights should not be postponed. …
[T]he poor refugees/asylum-seekers are only warehoused at the Osire Camp as baits to make the UNHCR and Government officials in charge of refugee affairs glut their pockets with the money given by donors.
As ADR reported in a July 11 email, the demonstration took place peacefully but, nevertheless, “humiliated the camp authorities before the 5 ministers who visited the camp on the very day.”
Now, a few weeks after the demonstrations, government authorities are beginning to retaliate. Refugees who went to the camp administrator's office to seek permits to allow them free movement outside the camp were told to go to ADR's office to get them. This is seen by ADR as intimidation.
We recall, some months back, the Namibia Commissioner for Refugees told us that we should expect sour results if we do not stop what we are doing (defending the rights of refugees in this country).
There was great pandemonium in the camp following the camp administrator's bitter remarks yesterday.
New Era on Refugees: ‘No Country, No Life’
The New Era of Windhoek ran a feature titled "No Country, No Life" on June 26, 2007 about the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Osire Camp. While the Government of Namibia recently issued identity documents to the 14 families in Osire Camp, the refugees are still confined to the camp and unable to work legally. Excerpts:
Everybody at the Osire refugee camp New Era spoke to wants a favour: - "Please help us. We want to go to America!"; or "I'm an electrical engineer. You'll look for a job for me?" - and they all want their names written down as if they are afraid they will be forgotten, that their lives will be erased as if they never happened. …
Claudete Mbonimpa fled from Burundi eight years ago with her twin sons, then two years of age, and her husband. …
"We are not allowed to have jobs," she complains, visibly shaken by the difficulties of having to raise a family on small rations received from the UNHCR warehouse. …
"How can we survive on this," asked Mbonimpa. "My children go to school on empty stomachs." …
Albert Rajabo, from the DRC and a member of the Association for the Defense of Refugees (ADR), and his friends some years back got into trouble with the law after demonstrating to improve their status as refugees. One niggling matter was the lack of paraffin. They have been incarcerated twice for "disturbing the public order" and given bail of N$500 each.
"We are not free to move around; it is as if we are in prison here," said Rajabo. …
[Joyce Mends-Cole, UNHCR Country Representative said] "It is tough to be a refugee, but it is my contention that the refugees in Namibia are being treated well, despite some hiccups." The UNHCR, she said, is now actively promoting the repatriation of particularly the Angolan population in the camp. The agency is, however, not yet promoting a return to the DRC and Sudan.
The UN body does, however, give a cautionary green light to local integration, mostly requested by Angolans.
"But it is not easy to promote local integration in Africa because countries have very fragile economies with no capacity to absorb big numbers of people," said Mends-Cole.
In the meantime, the UNHCR in tandem with the Ministry of Agriculture is actively pursuing the establishment of vegetable gardens for the camp.
The Policy of Refugee Warehousing...
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The January-March 2007 issue of The Voice of Refugees, published by the Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights (ADR) based in Osire Camp, provides additional commentary on the latest camp committee elections in "Pandemonium in all Osire Refugee Committee Elections," and urges for change within the camp in "The Policy of Refugee Warehousing." Excerpt:
All this show us that some where there is no will to recognise people or to respect the law toward refugees. There is only the will to continue this system of warehousing. ... We call upon the International Community and our partners to support us in our quest to bring changes to this Camp and to Namibia. ...
Leadership Election at Osire Refugee Camp
Former Osire resident Soulemane Kabwe sent USCRI this account of the camp elections held in Osire in January:
In Osire Refugee Camp, the camp leadership election was organized on January 30, 2007 after a big delay of more than two years.
Contrary to the program of the election process as set up by the Electoral Commission whereby the counting of votes and proclamation of the results were supposed to be done the very day of election, the Electoral Commission, imposed by the Namibian government officials at Osire Refugee Camp under the passivity and complicity of the UNHCR-Namibia, decided to postpone the counting and proclamation the following day (January 31,2007).
Both the Namibian government and UNHCR-Namibia took the Electoral Commission at the Osire Police Station in order to corrupt the Commission. After succeeding their mission, they informed a few number of Refugees with the following results:
1) Mr. Faustino Severino (Angolan): 649 votes, 2) Mr. Ricky Umba (Congolese): 164 votes, 3) Ms. Helena Lopes (Angolan): 31 votes, 4) Ms. Isabel Somp Yav (Congolese): 30, 5) Ms. Anne Manirakiza (Burundian): 23 votes, 6) Mr. Diomede Burihabwa (Burundian): 7 votes, 8) Mr. Stanis Bulongo (Congolese): 2 votes and 10) Matthew Kabemba (Congolese): 0 vote.
This result shows clearly that Mr. Faustino Severino is the President of Refugees and Mr. Ricky Umba is Vice President. But, the Namibian government and UNHCR-Namibia have decided to give the position of President to Mr. Faustino Severino and made Ms. Isabel Somp Yav Vice President because these two refugees do not have knowledge about refugee rights and are easily corrupted. The other reason is that Mr. Faustino Severino is from Angola and Angolan Refugees are majority in the camp, but uneducated. What is very strange is that Mr. Faustino Severino cannot even speak English while the official language in Namibia is English and Ms. Isabel Somp Yav is a girlfriend of the Osire camp authorities. When the refugees were informed about this decision, they went to ask the camp authorities. The answer from the camp authorities was that Ms. Isabel Somp Yav was given this position of the Vice President because of “Gender Balance.” But, this report shows that Ms. Helena Lopes was the one who supposed to be the Vice President if the camp authorities wanted to consider the gender balance.
The reality in the field is that both the Namibian government and UNHCR- Namibia do not prefer the camp leadership of educated people who can stand to defend the rights of their fellow refugees. The one who came with this bad system is Ms. Joyce Mends-Cole, the UNHCR Representative in Namibia. All the authorities are afraid of a strong leadership and they do not want the truth to be known by outsiders because the Constitution of the Refugee Community says:
“The President of Refugees represents all the Refugees before government authorities, UNHCR authorities and other NGOs working in partnership with the UNHCR for the welfare of Refugees.” (Article 18)
“The President of Refugees shall embody the will of all the Refugees in the country of asylum as well as abroad.” (Article 19)
As Congolese and Burundian Refugees (the minority in the Republic of Namibia) are marginalized but more educated, I recommend the following because the UNHCR- Namibia has failed to protect and defend the rights of the above mentioned:
Commissioner: Refugees as Antidote to Brain Drain
In the December 8, 2006 New Dawn, Refugee Commissioner Nkrumah Mushelenga wrote:
Some members of the community feel that refugees/asylum seekers are taking over what is rightfully theirs – i.e. employment, study and business opportunities.
It is a pity that while advocating globalization and regional economic integration, some of our leaders are promoting xenophobic attitudes towards non-nationals legally residing in this country. It should also be emphasized that Namibia is part of the international community, and as such, Namibia cannot develop her economic sectors in isolation. …
Namibia needs to take a position regarding the use of the existing locally based untapped refugee skills for the growth of this country’s economy.
The reality of the situation is that refugees/asylum seekers if they are professionals registered by the contracting state can make a meaningful contribution to both the economic growth and the social upliftment of the people of that particular country. Refugee populations consisting of professors, doctors, scientist, engineers, businessmen/women, just to mention a few. In order to reverse the brain drain trends in Africa in general and Namibia in particular, we should make use of the potentiality possessed by refugee communities in our country.
In the January 12, 2007 New Era, he reiterated:
The goal is to make sure that instead of a brain drain, Namibia advocates brain gain by effectively utilizing the untapped refugees’ skills and expertise without much cost and in the best interests of the African continent, the SADC region and indeed the Land of the Brave and her people.
An Ode to “Human Rights Defender,” Voice of Refugees, No. 24
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The April-June 2006 edition of The Voice of Refugees, published by the Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights in Osire Camp includes “Human Rights Defender,” a stirring poem by MacGoddins Lushimba, and another great cartoon “The Luckiest Asylum Seekers rescued … after many years of warehousing” showing a helicopter lifting refugees out for resettlement.
Government Denies Refugees Asylum, Rights
According to Petronella Sibeene’s March 24, 2006 “Osire Refugees Denied Asylum” in the Windhoek New Era, the Government denied refugee status to some 269 asylum seekers, including Kinshasa-Congolese, Burundians, Liberians, Rwandans, and Ugandans on grounds that there home countries are currently stable although refugees claim the apparent stability is not durable. MacGoddins Lushimba of the Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights (ADR) in Osire reported heavy rains in the camp but
[f]urther complaints related to restricted movement of refugees. As agreed, refugees at Osire Camp are allowed to leave the camp on Tuesdays and Fridays provided they obtain a Police pass, but they are expected to be back in the camp before the day ends.
“People are complaining that there is no freedom to find a job and also our children can go to school up to Grade 10 and cannot go beyond that,” lamented Lushimba.
Refugees Call on Donors to “Stop Donating” and Close Camp
In the January-March 2006 The Voice of Refugees, Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights (ADR) based in Osire Camp reports on efforts to draft a constitution for the Refugee Community Committee of the camp and on retaliatory measures authorities took (“Osire Refugees Held Hostage,” pp. 3-5). Excerpts:
ADR also calls upon donors around the world to stop donating, and the UNHCR-Geneva to everything in its power to lead the Osire Refugee Camp to a very fast closing, because this place is just a den of moral torture and anarchy…
In “Osire Planet” (p. 7), they report the unpunished rape and beating of a refugee gathering wood with her children outside a nearby commercial farm, the use of fake ration cards, aid officials’ improper sale of empty containers and sacks, nepotism in aid agency hiring, and mismanagement.
In the October-December 2005 Voice of Refugees, ADR published “What Refugees Have to Know” (pp. 3 and 6), a reprint of the “Anti-Warehousing Rights” of the 1951 Convention from World Refugee Survey 2004. In “The Wind of Change” (pp. 4-5), MacGoddins Lushimba and Peter Mudimba report on the issuance of “acceptance” letters without refugee identification cards. Excerpts:
This has led refugees to say that these documents are not valid. And in fact they are not, because even those refugees who possess them have no right to move freely within Namibia; they have no right to earn a livelihood or to easily go for tertiary education.
A refugee with an acceptance letter or and ID in his pocket is also submitted to the same regulations (of Refugee Warehousing) as those poor asylum seekers still waiting for the government’s decision about their status in Namibia. Both groups have no other place to stay apart from the 2 Km2 refugee camp, and cannot enjoy the rights set forth in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. …
How can [government authorities] claim that they “protect refugees” while the latter are still confined in Osire Camp without any clear identity, but facing a denial of their rights and a waste of their human potentialities?
It is not out of madness that ADR always stand up to remind them that they should comply with the UN Refugee Convention. We do this because we know that Namibia is one of the Contracting States that promised to respect the said Convention. But when they force people who have fled persecution and terror to live eternally in a destitute encampment, this can never be considered “refugee protection,” but “refugee imprisonment.” And this is immoral for it is a violation of human rights as well as refugee rights, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights… If we should repeat the statement of the U.S. Committee for Refugees about “Refugee Warehousing,” we would say that “Refugees have not ceased being human beings because they fled persecution.”
Court Acquits Refugee Anti-Warehousing Activists for Demonstration
According to Lindsay Dentlinger’s “Court Finds in Favour of Osire Refugees” in the September 29, 2005 Namibian, the Otjiwarango Magistrate’s Court acquitted five refugees accused of “inciting public violence” for demonstrating at World Refugee Day ceremonies the previous year. At the speech of Namibia’s refugee commissioner Elizabeth Negumbo, the members of the Association for the Defence of Refugee Rights had protested discrimination against Congolese refugees in refusing to grant refugee status for five years or more and denying passes to leave the camp.
Two of the Police officers questioned failed to provide sufficient evidence that MacGoddins Lushimba, Souleyman Kabwe, Alex Kasans, Eliya Luboya and Shungu Abubakar caused violence and resisted arrest on June 21 2004.
Jesuit Refugee Service also reported that:
a JRS staff member told Dispatches that the grievances the men were trying to highlight were real ones. He said that most refugees saw the demonstration as justified. They were publicly venting their frustration, he added.
Refugees Call for Recognition, Rights
In its July-September 2005 issue of The Voice of Refugees, ADR offered “ADR’s Proposal” on p. 6, calling on rights defenders around the world to recommend that
1) the Namibian Government grant them refugee status allowing them
to leave the camp, to go for tertiary education, to work, trade, farm, own and operate businesses, and contribute to Namibia’s economy rather than to live in a state of indefinite dependency. To inform Namibian citizens of the positive benefits refugees can bring to host communities.
2) that UNHCR “hold donor nations and the Namibian Government accountable to the 1951 Convention and other national and international laws that protect refugees and asylum seekers. To coordinate UN and donor initiatives, and emphasize the point that any type of development assistance into refugee hosting areas will depend on how Namibia will abide by the Refugee Convention.”
3) that Donor nations “fund development projects in refugee hosting-areas only if the Namibian Government is ready to foster greater refugee participation in trade, business, and labor exchange” and
4) that NGOs “educate Namibian Government officials, business leaders, educators, and other civil society institutions about refugee rights and protection and the economic and social benefits that refugees could bring to Namibia with such rights.
Refugee Comments on World Refugee Day 2005 and Courage
In the April-June 2005 issue of the The Voice of Refugees, a reader based in Osire camp comments on World Refugee Day 2005 and its theme of “Courage.” Excerpts:
In conclusion, the [UNHCR] statement said it really takes courage—real courage—for a refugee to make these brave choices [of durable solutions].
For long hours, I really thought and spoke my heart that it really takes supernatural courage to be a refugee, especially in a country like Nambia where the Government does not allow refugees to move freely or reside in towns, to possess travel documents, to have a job, even to engage in self-employment.
Voice of Refugees Features Spread on Warehousing
The September-December 2004 issue of ADR's features a two-page spread on warehousing!
Refugees Arrested for Speaking out on World Refuge Day
According to a June 21, 2004 IRIN report,
The commemoration of World Refugee Day in Namibia on Monday was marred by the detention of three asylum seekers who were allegedly attempting to "disrupt" the event. …
"It was made clear to the refugees that they would not be allowed to stage a demonstration on World Refugee Day," said [police public relations officer Hophni] Hamufungu. "They chose to ignore this and we had no option but to detain those who we felt were intent on provoking the authorities."
"We applied to the regional police headquarters for permission to go ahead with the demonstration, but did not receive any confirmation until this morning (Monday). We thought that World Refugee Day would be an ideal opportunity to voice our frustrations, but the authorities do not want the international community to know just how badly we are being mistreated," [Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights] chairman MacGoddins Lushimba complained. …
"The Namibian government does not adhere to its own laws, which explicitly protect refugees. We are not provided with the most basic things, such as paraffin for cooking. We find that it is nearly impossible to leave the camp, and our children's prospects are very limited even if they are educated," Lushimba told IRIN.
According to a June 22, 2004 article in the Namibian,
Shortly after noon, the leader of the Association for the Defence of Refugee Rights (ADR), MacGoddins Lushimba, told The Namibian that three fellow refugees were nabbed as soon as they began hoisting placards at an official ceremony to commemorate the plight of asylum seekers.
Two hours later Lushimba was arrested trying to brief journalists about the demonstration.
Police confiscated the placards, beat up the demonstrators and began rounding up the leadership of the ADR, which was seen as the ringleader, Lushimba claimed before his arrest. …
Lushimba, in hiding while speaking on a cellphone, said Police had called reinforcements from the Otjiwarongo riot unit - the Task Force - blocked access to the official gathering and denied them access to journalists covering the commemoration. …
As the Government's Commissioner for Refugees Elizabeth Negumbo was to deliver a speech yesterday, refugees began to display messages such as 'why xenophobia', 'Osire is still a prison' and 'We are eternal asylum seekers in Namibia'.
According to a June 23, 2004 Namibian article
The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has criticised the UNHCR representative in Namibia, Hesdy Rathling, for reportedly saying it had advised the refugees not to demonstrate because they "have to act within the confines of the country's laws."
"What laws is the UNHCR-Namibia referring to? Our information is that Police arrested refugees merely for attempting to stage a peaceful demonstration to democratically express their views," said the NSHR in a statement.
Namibian law requires demonstrators to inform the Police of their intention to protest, but the authorities have no right to refuse the permission except were public order is disturbed.
Fuel Cuts Lead to Shootings, Arrests, as Refugees Seek Firewood and Protest
According to a June 7, 2004 article in the Namibian,
FOUR people were arrested on Thursday as refugees at Osire refugee camp tried to boycott the late arrival of paraffin [i.e., kerosene] by more than two months.
The refugees said the lack of paraffin had put their lives in danger, as they felt forced to trespass onto commercial farms around the camp in search of firewood. …
Souleymane Kabwe, a member of the Association for the Defence of Refugee Rights (ADR) at Osire, said the four were arrested after the Police had been called in to help force the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to hand out fuel after failing to provide the rations for April and May.
Kabwe said the UNHCR had failed to give any explanation why the paraffin was not delivered for April and May, and also for decreasing the rations of adults to three litres. …
Kabwe said the failure to deliver paraffin had led to injuries among some refugees who went into farms looking for fuel wood.
A 14-year-old girl was shot and a man aged 26 was detained for two days for trespassing in search of wood, Kabwe said.
Xamseb said the girl was hit by shrapnel as Police fired at a car that had illegally entered a nearby commercial farm.
Police Shoot, Refugees Rebel at Osire
According to an October 20, 2003 article in the Namibian:
ONE person was shot and several injured when Police fired at refugees protesting over food distribution at the Osire refugee camp on Friday morning.
Rioting refugees smashed the windows of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office at the camp and broke the doors. …
Police Spokesperson Warrant Officer Christopher Munyika confirmed that Angolan national Antonio Lucas (21) was injured when Police shot into the air to disperse the angry crowd.
He was injured in the right collarbone and has been hospitalised at Otjiwarongo.
Munyika said Lucas was not shot at intentionally and a case of attempted murder is being investigated. …
The leader of the refugees' committee at Osire, Jorge Manuel, said … said he had been asked to tell the refugees that the UNHCR was preparing a new list but the people insisted on going with him to the offices of the agency.
He claims that on the way there, stones were thrown at him.
"Then the Police came to intervene to disperse the crowd.
Then one Policeman opened fire" and the bullets "unfortunately landed on someone," said Manuel.
"When they [the crowd] saw someone was shot they started to throw stones at all the offices.
They entered the UNHCR offices destroyed windows and took chairs."
On October 21, 2003, the Namibian reported:
EIGHT pupils were arrested at the Osire refugee camp yesterday as Police maintained a strong presence following a demonstration over food that left one person with a gunshot wound on Friday. …
The refugees claimed the UN officer, Darlinda Thomas, had taunted them saying they should wait because she was just as hungry as them.
Quoting from a report written by the school at Osire, Lushimba said about 50 students threw stones on the roof of the UNHCR office, where, unbeknown to them, the Commissioner for Refugees, Elizabeth Negumbo, UNHCR protection officer Magda Medina and Thomas were meeting.
Police came to try and ward off the stone throwers, but one of them got involved in an argument with a Grade 9 student.
The student was then shot at point blank range in the right collarbone as he allegedly attempted to pick up his sandals to run, according to the report. …
UNHCR field officer, David Nthengwe, said … a few food ration cards had been found to be fraudulent but that most were genuine.
Police Arrest Refugees After Protest Over WFP Ration Cuts
According to a June 2, 2003 IRIN report:
The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that it is running "dangerously low" on rations for Angolan refugees in Namibia. …
"It's very urgent that funding is received for the feeding of refugees until these people go back [to Angola]. These people are confined to the camp, they cannot access land to cultivate food, they cannot seek employment ... they're entirely dependent on food aid, so if there's no food aid the malnutrition situation will deteriorate," [WFP Namibia head, Abdirahman] Meygag warned.
According to a July 29, 2003 article in the Namibian:
AT least 20 refugees were arrested, one allegedly shot and several others injured at the Osire camp yesterday during a confrontation with Police who tried to quell a protest over fuel and food shortages.
Police spokesman, Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu … said when people at the camp awoke "placards were up this morning already urging" refugees not to accept the rations and to demand an explanation from the UNHCR.
As they were demanding explanations, the Government-employed camp administrator reportedly called the Police to arrest the "instigators."
Six people were arrested by 10h00.
Then more than 50 refugees sought an explanation for the reduction in rations and the release of their neighbours, prompting the Police to use force to disperse them.
Kakozi said more people were arrested during the protest.
Some of the refugees claimed Police shot at them rather than firing warning shots only.
Two people were allegedly beaten with batons.
Others had their clothes torn during the arrests.
By late yesterday Police were reported to be going from house to house to arrest more people suspected to be the leaders of the "boycott."
Amulungu said 20 people were arrested.
Many of those detained appear to be asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including ADR chairperson MacGoddins Lushimba and one of its prominent members Souleyman Kabwe.
"Our rights are no more respected in this country," said Kakozi.
"We are just trying to use our rights by asking for explanations.
Why should people be arrested? We cannot understand how the Government got involved because the refugees were asking the UNHCR." …
Many refugees have complained that Government's strict regulations of keeping them in the camp and giving them little opportunity to find work has left them wholly dependent on hand-outs.
End Warehousing Statement Endorsers
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Association for the Defense of Refugee Rights