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More Caprivi refugees return

    JOHANNESBURG

    More than 600 Namibian secessionist refugees in Botswana are due to be transported home to Caprivi next week following assurances of their safety, a senior UNHCR official told IRIN on Thursday.

    A group of 237 are awaiting security clearance from the Namibian
    government and are expected to be repatriated next Tuesday. The list of a further 400 refugees in the Dukwe camp in Botswana is being finalised by UNHCR and they could be returned next Thursday.

    That would leave some 1,300 Namibian refugees left in Botswana out of the 2,500 that fled Caprivi last year claiming persecution by the Windhoek authorities.

    Under a May tripartite agreement with the Botswana government and UNHCR, Namibia pledged to guarantee the safety of the returnees. UNHCR has increased its capacity to monitor the reintegration process, working through church organisations and UN staff in the region.

    "The government has said that it will not tolerate harassment and up till now we have been quite satisfied," the UNHCR official said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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