The United Nations (UN) has distanced itself from former Namibian refugees demanding that it negotiates with the government on their behalf.
The Former Refugees Repatriation Association of Namibia on Wednesday abruptly ended a meeting it requested with the UN and the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.
The meeting was intended to address the group’s demands for resettlement and rehabilitation.
UN representatives, however, failed to attend.
UN Namibia spokesperson Anthea Basson yesterday said the UN no longer bears responsibility for these individuals.
The former refugees were repatriated to Namibia in 1989 with the assistance of the UN under Resolution 435.
“The return assistance accorded to the returnees at the time was what the UN had available, as received from donors, and was accounted for back to the office and to donors in the same year, and that file and assistance process was closed,” Basson said.
She said any new consideration of this return does not fall within the mandate of the current UN team present in Namibia.
“Neither can the UN team in Namibia advance an advocacy for a reopening or reconsideration of this three-decade-old process and closed file in light of current more complex ongoing global humanitarian and developmental challenges,” she said.
Basson said the UN has held several meetings with the former Namibian refugees, providing them with information on the return programme.
The UN has encouraged the group to meet with the relevant ministries in charge of facilitated returns, as well as the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs to receive any additional targeted support at national level for their specific profile.
“The UN has also encouraged the group to consult with the government to explore current developmental efforts supported by the UN team under the United Nations Partnership Framework, and/or advance their complaints/concerns related to their return to their country in 1989 at appropriate UN fora, such as at the UN General Assembly or other platforms,” Basson said.
Matheus Nangolo, the founder of the former refugees association, yesterday said it is important for the UN to mediate discussions it has with the government.
He said talks with the government has so far not yielded any fruit.
“We need the UN to come here. If there is no document from the UN, we are not going to sit down with the government,” Nangolo said.
He threatened to hold a protest on 9 September if the UN doesn’t attend a meeting between the association and the government.
Nangolo said the UN has failed to implement resettlement and rehabilitation programmes for former refugees of 1989.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), its implementing partners and the Swapo government are specifically to blame, he said.
“The reasonable thing the UNHCR must do is to give us the money which was meant for resettlement and rehabilitation in order for ?us to complete the process which the UNHCR has failed to implement in 1989.
“The R10 we were given in 1989 was for what ?purpose, if we may ask” Nangolo asked.
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