New surge of Angolan refugees

The number of refugees in Namibia, most of them from Angola, has reached 4,000, Mengesha Kebede, regional head of the UNHCR told IRIN on Wednesday. "The refugees at Osire are mainly from Angola and we are seeing on average between 250 and 300 new arrivals each month," Kebede said. The Osire refugee camp lies about 160km outside of the capital city, Windhoek. According to Kabede, UNHCR faced a number of challenges at Osire. He said that one of the main problems was accommodation and UNHCR was currently trying to build new housing for the residents. He added that it was also trying to establish a warehouse at the camp to store food. "Basically we face the usual emergency situations." Kabede said that if the present trend continued, the population in the camp could reach 5,000 and once this happened the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) would step in and assume the food distribution and management responsibilities. "We have already alerted WFP in Namibia, so that they can begin obtaining the necessary resources," Kebede said.