Osire is a refugee camp in central Namibia, situated 200 km north of the capital Windhoek next to the main road C30 from Gobabis to Otjiwarongo. It was established in 1992 to accommodate refugees from Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Somalia. The camp grew quickly in its early years, reaching a peak of 20,000 inhabitants in 1998. Since then the refugee population of Osire decreased steadily, approaching 6,500 in 2010, and 3,000 in 2014. Due to the cessation of conflicts in the countries where inhabitants originate from, the camp is scheduled to close. In 2008 the majority (75%) of refugees still resident here came from Angola, and a sizeable portion from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1] UNHCR regards the camp as one of the best managed in the world, due to its provisioning of formal school education, both primary and secondary. The settlement further has a police station and a clinic.[2]
The camp used to be a detention centre during the South African rule over Namibian territory.[3] Throughout its existence as refugee camp maltreatment of inhabitants, retaliation, harassment[3] and riots[4] have been reported. In 2009 a group of 41 people fled the camp with the help of a local Human Rights organisation after allegedly having received death threats. This group left Namibia via the Mamuno Border Post but was refused entry to Botswana and as a result stayed in No Man's Land between Namibia and Botswana[5] for three months until being arrested by Botswana authorities and deported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[6]
References edit
- ^ "Spotlight Falls on Osire Refugees" by Petronella Sibenene, New Era, 19 June 2008
- ^ Andima, Jordaania; Kenyon, Jack (26 June 2014). "Alone in a crowd ... the story of Osire Refugee Camp inhabitants". The Namibian.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b USCRI[permanent dead link] Trapped in Osire Refugee Camp
- ^ Medilinkz Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine 20 Oct 2003: NAMIBIA: Unrest at Osire refugee camp
- ^ Namibia National Society for Human Rights Archived 2010-11-16 at the Wayback Machine Government washes hands off 41 refugees
- ^ "Botswana to deport runaway refugees", The Namibian 9 Oct 2009, by Nangula Shejavali
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