Osire in uproar over paraffin ration cut

FOUR people were arrested on Thursday as refugees at Osire refugee camp tried to boycott the late arrival of paraffin by more than two months.

The refugees said the lack of paraffin had put their lives in danger, as they felt forced to trespass onto commercial farms around the camp in search of firewood. Philemon Ntsimba, Aboubakar Shungu, MacGoddin Lushimba and Alex Mandiangu were detained for between 30 minutes and two hours after they had allegedly been seen as the leaders of the paraffin boycott.Souleymane Kabwe, a member of the Association for the Defence of Refugee Rights (ADR) at Osire, said the four were arrested after the Police had been called in to help force the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to hand out fuel after failing to provide the rations for April and May.Kabwe said the UNHCR had failed to give any explanation why the paraffin was not delivered for April and May, and also for decreasing the rations of adults to three litres.Adults, he said, used to receive four litres while children got two litres.Kabwe said everyone began receiving three litres since Thursday.UNHCR Public Information Officer Esegiel Xamseb said his organisation could not hand out paraffin because of a delay in the transfer of money from its head office.Kabwe said the failure to deliver paraffin had led to injuries among some refugees who went into farms looking for fuel wood.A 14-year-old girl was shot and a man aged 26 was detained for two days for trespassing in search of wood, Kabwe said.Xamseb said the girl was hit by shrapnel as Police fired at a car that had illegally entered a nearby commercial farm.Philemon Ntsimba, Aboubakar Shungu, MacGoddin Lushimba and Alex Mandiangu were detained for between 30 minutes and two hours after they had allegedly been seen as the leaders of the paraffin boycott.Souleymane Kabwe, a member of the Association for the Defence of Refugee Rights (ADR) at Osire, said the four were arrested after the Police had been called in to help force the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to hand out fuel after failing to provide the rations for April and May.Kabwe said the UNHCR had failed to give any explanation why the paraffin was not delivered for April and May, and also for decreasing the rations of adults to three litres.Adults, he said, used to receive four litres while children got two litres.Kabwe said everyone began receiving three litres since Thursday.UNHCR Public Information Officer Esegiel Xamseb said his organisation could not hand out paraffin because of a delay in the transfer of money from its head office.Kabwe said the failure to deliver paraffin had led to injuries among some refugees who went into farms looking for fuel wood.A 14-year-old girl was shot and a man aged 26 was detained for two days for trespassing in search of wood, Kabwe said.Xamseb said the girl was hit by shrapnel as Police fired at a car that had illegally entered a nearby commercial farm.