The home affairs ministry has announced that the new look identification document for refugees be named African Guest Identity Card from the current Refugee Identity Card.
The total number of asylum seekers and refugees stands at 7 500.
“This is being done within the letter and spirit of Pan-Africanism because Namibia views our brothers and sisters who seek asylum as guests.”
Namibia has acceded to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and its Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967 as well as the OAU Convention on the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 1969.
Therefore, the ministry’s executive director Etienne Maritz said these international instruments remain valid in Namibia. The Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control) Act and the Regulations made thereunder are also still applicable with regard to the criteria for determining refugee status.
“The nation is, therefore, assured that the naming of the Refugee Identity Card as the African Guest Identity Card will not change the requirements (criteria) for determining refugee status as per the requirements of section 13 of the Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control) Act,” Maritz explained. Against this background, the ministry made it categorically clear that the new African Guest Identity Cards will only be issued to recognised refugees in Namibia and not to every person seeking refuge or asylum.
“We will continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in addressing refugee issues in accordance with international law. The new name will be given legal effect by amending the Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control) Regulations before the new look African Guest Identity Cards are issued to qualifying applicants,” he said.
Namibia, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, seeks to achieve identity for all and this includes refugees.
In terms of the Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control), (Act No. 2 of 1999), refugees (who have been recognised as such in terms of the afore-mentioned Act) were issued with identification cards.
In line with this aspiration to achieve identity for all, on 18 November 2021, the ministry launched the new look Identity Documents (IDs) with a new layout for citizens, permanent residents, and refugees. The new-look IDs include a machine-readable zone (MRZ) and a quick response code (QRC).
As a child of international solidarity, Maritz maintained Namibia always seeks ways to accommodate guests seeking asylum and refuge, as evident in the inclusion of refugees in the new look IDs. This is done within the ambit of the applicable international and national legal framework.
–anakale@nepc.com.na
Caption: (refugees) Guests… Home affairs named the new look identification document for refugees African Guest Identity Card from the current Refugee Identity Card.
Photo: Nampa