Namibia
Namibian camp troubles neighbours

Misanet.com / The Namibian / afrol News, 30 January - Refugees in the disputed Osire camp are accused of poaching, livestock theft and causing damage to flora and fauna in the area. Last year, indigenous San communities managed to halt the relocation of the Osire refugee camp to their scarce homelands. Now, commercial farmers are complaining.

Commercial farmers involved in game and livestock farming close to the Osire Refugee Camp have accused the refugees of poaching and stock theft. Tension between the farmers and the refugees, numbering over 20,000, has occasionally resulted in some refugees being shot at for trespassing.

The farmers say the refugees mostly poach kudu, oryx, hartebeest and warthog and had of late also resorted to stealing the farmers' cattle, goats and sheep. Substantial damage to flora and fauna in the area has resulted in further financial losses to farmers.

Cash-strapped refugees have reportedly depleted the 'Devil's Claw' plant on most of the farms through uncontrolled, unregulated digging. 'Devil's Claw' is a much sought after plant renowned for its healing properties.

Last year 600 metric tonnes of the pharmaceutical plant was exported to South Africa, German, Spain, Switzerland and UK, raking in export earnings of N$10 million (US$ 870,000 or 1 million euro).

Refugees use unsustainable methods when they dig for 'Devil's Claw'. They usually leave uncovered holes of up to one metre deep which are potentially dangerous to game, livestock and even the farmers when they are on horseback.

Gerd Wolbling, one of the affected farmers, told 'The Namibian' the refugee camp borders four farms but that up to 150 farms within a radius of 90 km from the settlement were affected. He said the level of trespassing on the affected farms could easily exceed 100 cases per day. 

Wolbling said trespassing had become so common that it was no longer being reported by the farmers. He said the refugees usually collected firewood to augment their meagre paraffin ration and also engaged in poaching activities.

A CEO at a State entity with farming interests near the refugee camp said: "It is actually a very serious problem ... it is a very unpleasant situation. Those people roam around and even build huts deep on the farms," he said.

- If they see a goat or sheep they [refugees] will take it. It appears that from last year it started getting worse, he said, citing an incident in which 14 game animals were poached on a number of farms on a single day.

No comment could be obtained from the refugees as the Ministry of Home Affairs last year banned them from speaking to the media unless it gave them permission to do so. A senior official at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday acknowledged the problem. 

-This problem has been ongoing, he remarked. The UN official attributed the illicit activities to "congestion" at the camp, which is 230 km north-east of Windhoek, the Namibian capital. The Camp Administrator at Osire, Paulus Haikali, said the problem had not been brought to his attention by the aggrieved parties.

One year ago, the Namibian government planned to relocate the Osire camp to a marginal area inhabited by the !Kung community, a semi-nomadic San people (formerly called "Bushmen"). The relocation stranded on heavy protests from San communities and the UN, holding the refugees' activities would strip the area of scarce natural resources, such as firewood, game, wild berries and roots - essential for the livelihood of the San.

Based on an article by Chrispin Inambao (The Namibian) and afrol archives

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