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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

NAMIBIA: Unrest at Osire refugee camp

JOHANNESBURG, 20 October 2003 (IRIN) - The situation at the Osire refugee camp in Namibia, the scene of a riot on Friday last week, has returned to normal, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told IRIN.

The riot erupted during food distributions at the camp, which houses refugees from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The head of the World Food Programme (WFP) Namibia office, Abdirahman Meygag, told IRIN on Monday that distributions to refugees had to be suspended as a result of the disturbances.

"We distribute food aid based on the number of people who hold ration cards, which have to be registered in a database. [WFP implementing partner] Africare then distributes according to the database held by UNHCR. Distributions on Thursday went well but on Friday, the second day, we found some [people] who were not on the database, while others held double ration cards. When they [refugees] were told the beneficiary list needed to be verified, they rioted and we had to suspend distributions," Meygag said.

WFP, UNHCR and Africare were "discussing among ourselves the commencement of distributions" in the camp following the riot.

"But it's a few people creating a problem in the camp. We cannot give food to people not officially in the database, or who have double ration cards," Meygag added.

UNHCR spokesman Hesdy Radhling told IRIN that "everything has returned to normal" in the camp and distributions should "continue tomorrow [Tuesday]".

The Namibian National Society for Human Rights said earlier that one refugee had suffered a gunshot wound when police attempted to control the rioting refugees, who had stoned the UNHCR office.

This was not the first clash between police and refugees at the Osire camp. Police had to intervene in July as refugees, angry at a reduction in paraffin rations, attempted to block the monthly distribution of the cooking and lighting fuel.

Budgetary restraints had forced UNHCR to reduce the monthly four-litre allocation per person by half. Radhling said at the time that the disturbance was caused by members of a Congolese association of refugees.

Themes: (IRIN) Other, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

[ENDS]

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