Angolan refugees try to legalise status

A Namibian 'clean-up' operation along the Angolan border has prompted a number of refugees who have been in the country illegally to report to the UN refugee agency UNHCR to avoid arrest, deportation, or even conscription into the army back home. Francis Olayiwola, UNHCR field officer in Rundu, a border town in Namibia's northeastern Kavango region, told IRIN that the agency had received about 50 refugees since the beginning of the month, most of whom had arrived in Namibia a long time ago. "We received 17 people in Rundu on Monday, but they have not come as a result of the [latest] attack [in the Caprivi region on Saturday]. They were living in the Kavango region illegally. They did not want to be arrested and deported, so they came to us," he told IRIN. The Namibian authorities imposed a curfew along the long Kavango river border with Angola last October. They said UNITA rebels crossed the border regularly, attacked villagers, stole their belongings, planted landmines and then fled back home. At the same time the Namibian army launched an operation to root out possible UNITA operatives from its border territories and to prevent further cross-border raids. Analysts have agreed that one motive for the Namibian clampdown is Windhoek's close relationship with the Luanda government. It is this relationship that has refugees in a quandary. As one humanitarian source told IRIN, the majority of refugees who enter Namibia come from areas which have been controlled by UNITA. Their journey south into Namibia "is perilous, with the threat of meeting UNITA, FAA [Angolan Armed Forces] or Namibian soldiers en route". This would be especially true for UNITA supporters and soldiers wanting to flee to safety. Jimmy Mbendela, UNHCR field officer in Osire, the country's main refugee camp, told IRIN that some refugees, knowing they would be subject to strict screening in Namibia, did not even report to the authorities. They went to Zambia or to Botswana instead, he said. Nevertheless, he added: "The (Angolan refugee) population is steadily increasing - but not at an alarming rate." Olayiwola told IRIN that some refugees choosing to report to the UNHCR offices now had been in the country illegally for up to two years. Others only asked for refugee status after being arrested by Namibian authorities. "The refugees coming into our offices recently - the majority of them are not just crossing the border now. They have crossed the border in 1999 and 2000, and have been living illegally in Namibia. When they (Angolan refugees) cross the border they go to family relations and so on, but now because of the Namibian clean-up operation, especially in Kavango, people are coming to us," he said. Olayiwola also confirmed reports of fighting in the Caprivi region at the weekend, saying it seemed as though the motive of the attackers' - suspected to be UNITA rebels - was to steal food and non-food items. The Namibian reported that two Angolan soldiers, two women and a 12-year-old girl were injured in the fighting. Mbendela said the border area has been unstable. "Prior to Christmas we had instances of landmines in the Kavango region which claimed two lives and injured three or four people. The situation has been critical. This has continued recently."