More Namibian refugees to return home

A third group of Namibians who were exiled in the Dukwe refugee camp in Botswana following separatist violence in Namibia are to be voluntarily repatriated next week. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Resident Representative in Namibia, Hesdy Radhling, told IRIN that 415 refugees would be repatriated on 15 October which would bring the total number of returnees to 931. "The repatriation of the third wave of refugees will go ahead as planned. The majority of them are members of the San group from Omega, although there are some people from the Mafwe tribe [associated with secessionism] who will be returning," Radhling said. The latest group of returnees are part of the 2,400 refugees who fled the country in late 1998 and early 1999 at the height of secessionist troubles in Namibia's northeastern Caprivi region. In mid-August, the first group of Namibian refugees returned from Dukwe to Caprivi under a UNHCR voluntary repatriation operation. "Those who wish to remain will continue to enjoy asylum and assistance in the Dukwe refugee camp. The repatriates will be bused to the Ngoma border post where they will be officially handed over to the Namibian assistant minister for home affairs," Radlhing said. He added that UNHCR with the government would ensure that returnees would be resettled in areas with "adequate facilities". Under a tripartite agreement between UNHCR, Namibia, and Botswana, the government of Namibia guaranteed that returnees would not be subjected to any form of discrimination or ill-treatment on account of their ethnic origin or political affiliation, or for having left the country as refugees. Windhoek has also committed itself to guaranteeing the safe re-integration into society of the returnees and to return to them land and other assets they may have lost during their flight into Botswana, provided a title deed or other proof of ownership can be provided. Meanwhile, lawyers representing Geoffrey Mwilima and Bernard Mucheka, two of the men accused of supporting a plot to violently separate the Caprivi region from the rest of the country, told IRIN that a third bail application had been postponed to 20 November. Both of the accused have denied any involvement in the secessionist movement, which came to dramatic light in 1999 with an attack on security forces in the Caprivi capital Katima Mulilo, which left 12 people dead. "We are preparing our cross examination of the state's witnesses but before that we have to screen the others who have been accused to decide on their alleged involvement in the so-called plot," Legal Aid Directorate lawyer, Hipura Ujaha, told IRIN. A total of 126 people accused of high treason remain in custody, awaiting the start of their trial. The government has said it still has a list of 207 people wanted in connection with the case. Two of the leaders of the Caprivi Liberation Movement (CLM), Mishake Muyongo and Boniface Mamili who originally fled to Botswana, have been granted political assylum in Denmark. The CLM accused the government of neglecting Caprivi's development, and sought closer links with Zambia's similarly restive Western province.