Julia Kamarenga
Omaheke security cluster officials are embarking on an operation of verifying and profiling migrants living and working in the Omaheke region.
The operation is scheduled to be carried out from 6 to 24 June 2022. It comes after a string of complaints, ranging from petty crimes such as stock theft for self-sustenance to human trafficking, were received in the region in recent weeks.
Otjinene regional councillor Erwin Katjizeu stated that the migrants have settled at Ozohambo under poor living conditions, as a group comprising close to 20 people are cohabiting in one shack.
He further narrated that his office has reported cases where girls as young as 15 years old were brought in from Angola, and sold to villagers for N$500.
He took various steps of seeking an audience with the relevant offices, but Katjizeu said to this day, no concrete decision has been taken.
In a related incident, close to 4 000 Angolans who are fleeing unemployment, drought and hunger had camped at Etunda in the Omusati region since the beginning of 2021. They were repatriated after 11 months, but were back in Namibia only weeks later, claiming starvation. This time, the migrants have spread further south as far as Omaheke.
Namibian officials are not sure how many have returned because they come into the country through ungazetted entry points. Many migrants also settle in villages and farms, where they are employed as domestic workers and farmworkers.
The councillor furthermore complained that the migrants have organised and equipped themselves with spears and arrows, which they use to kill stolen cattle for their own consumption as well as to sell to locals.
Briefing a recent meeting, the Namibian Police’s deputy commissioner of operations Jackson Kamwanga appealed to leaders to discourage evils such as regionalism and tribalism, but to preach peace and unity to the community so that they can live in harmony.
He also urged people not to take the law into their own hands, but that they should verify whether indeed the person is not a Namibian, and then inform the relevant authorities to take action.
Kamwanga then called on traditional and religious leaders as well as employers to equally take the responsibility of ensuring that the people in question are verified.