New ICRC office to assist in border zone

Citing its “growing concern” at tensions along the Namibian border with Angola, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has opened a new office in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. An ICRC spokesman told IRIN on Wednesday its key tasks would be to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people and detainees. Tensions along the border have increased since December last year when the Namibian government invited the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) to use its territory to launch attacks against UNITA rebels in southern Angola. “We see it as necessary to have a permanent presence in Windhoek to be able, in compliance with our mandate, to cover the border region,” the spokesman said. The ICRC’s main regional office in southern Africa is in Harare, Zimbabwe. ‘The Namibian’ newspaper reported this week that the new ICRC office would be working with the Namibia Red Cross Society to help identify potential benefactors and ensure that assistance in the form of maize meal, cooking oil, beans, salt, blankets, plastic sheeting and food utensils are ready for distribution. The newspaper said hundreds of Namibians had been killed, maimed, or displaced during the year as a result of raids by armed bandits, most of which have been blamed by the government on UNITA insurgents. In raids that take place mainly at night, many people have had their property and livestock stolen. “Many people from remote villages now have to spend the night sleeping in the bush because they are scared of being attacked,” a church official in the Kavango border capital of Rundu told IRIN. “Our situation is difficult too because the river is running low and people need assistance to make ends meet as it is.” The fact that the Kavango River was running low also enabled it to be easily forded. The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) and newspapers have also reported an increasing number of people falling victim to land mine explosions, and UNHCR on Wednesday put the number of Angolan refugees who have fled to Namibia at close to 15,000.