Windhoek
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says the Namibian government is of the view that peaceful negotiations instead of military campaigns hold the key to resolving the Syrian conflict wherein hundreds of thousands have been killed and more than half the population driven from their homes.
Four years into the bloody civil war in Syria, the deaths of over 200 000 people have seemingly been eclipsed by sectarian politics, geo-political power play and an obsessive focus on Daesh (Islamic State), while the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad continues to drop barrel bombs on civilian areas and run torture prisons with impunity.
During a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s on Friday, where both countries re-affirmed the cordial bilateral relations between them, Nandi-Ndeitwah reiterated that international terrorism has become a threat to global peace and security and called on the international community to work together in the fight against terror – seen as a threat to all humanity.
On the protracted humanitarian crisis in Yemen, she said Namibia’s position is that negotiations are necessary to address the plight of the Yemeni people and resolve the conflict in that country. The main targets of the Saudi-backed bombing campaigns have predominantly been densely populated civilian areas, essential infrastructure facilities, hospitals, schools, wedding venues, mosques and homes across Yemen. Over 7 500 people, including hundreds of children, have been massacred since March 2015.
On the plight of the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia is fully supportive of the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign State, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The UN has repeatedly condemned Israel’s continued construction of illegal setrtlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon told a UN security council meeting last Tuesday that, “Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half-century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process”. He called ongoing Israeli settlement building “an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community”.
Looking to the Far East, Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia is keen to take stock of important developments in the Korean Peninsula: “It is our view that issues of the Korean Peninsula need a balanced and mature approach, which respects the views of all stakeholders and that the international community should reduce tensions in that part of the world. We similarly hold the view that peaceful negotiations have always yielded fruits and secured peace.”
Equally important, she said is the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, adding that as the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic draws near, Namibia wishes to join the “progressive international community” in calling for a solution to the question of the Sahwari Arab Democratic Republic, with particular reference to the holding of [an independence] referendum in that country”.
She said Namibia joins the rest of the continent in welcoming the Chinese government’s support for the Common Africa position on the reform of the United Nations Security Council. “Namibia supports China’s candidature on the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women),” the minister noted.
She also expressed profound appreciation and gratitude for the development assistance rendered by the Peoples Republic of China to Namibia. Chinese development assistance and investment in Namibia since 1990 peaked in 2014 with the investment of close to N$80 billion in Husab Uranium Mine in the Erongo Region.
“This is testimony of the fact that the quality and quantity of Chinese investments in Namibia have steadily grown in stature,” she said, while noting that cooperation between both countries in various sectors have expanded gradually from modest levels in 1990. She pointed out that economic growth and infrastructure go hand in hand, hence the need to work towards the establishment of industrial parks in Namibia.