Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Government will close the Calueque Reception Center, in the municipality of Ombadja (Cunene), which houses two thousand and 50 former refugees in Namibia.
The Government’s decision was announced, this Monday, by the Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, Francisco Furtado, during a meeting with interested parties, in Calueque.
In existence since 2022, the Center houses former Angolan refugees in neighboring Namibia, who will now be sent to their areas of origin.
These are national citizens who took refuge in Namibia, due to the cyclical drought situation, who, over the last two years, were assisted with basic necessities, medical assistance, education and birth registration.
Francisco Furtado said that, after the period of permanent assistance to the affected populations, there is a need to return to their homes, so that they can produce their own food for self-sustenance.
He informed that the Executive has the responsibility to ensure the subsistence of families, but that it “cannot” maintain fixed populations depending exclusively on the Government.
To this end, he added that some basic necessities are being prepared to ensure food for the victims, for the next 15 days, who remain in the Center, while the transport process takes place.
“The conditions for the return of these families are guaranteed, especially food supplies and missing resources such as zinc sheets, in order to facilitate the resettlement process in their areas of origin”, he stated.
In addition, he highlighted that with the return to families they will benefit from instruments, inputs, seeds and fertilizers, to develop agricultural activity at this stage of the rainy season and guarantee self-subsistence.
“Keeping these families at the center would perpetuate permanent assistance for this population”, he highlighted.
He recalled that a production field was set up in the reception center, in which the Ministry of Agriculture provided all technical assistance and instructions to the populations, but they only worked in the first year.
The Minister of State said that the transport process involves the Ministry of Social Action and the government of the province of Cunene, which must monitor and guarantee the families’ subsistence.
He recalled that, during the critical dry period, more than eight thousand Angolans were refugees in Namibia. The first ones returned in the first year and others returned by their own means.
Currently, 736 families are concentrated in the center from the municipalities of Curoca, Cahama and Ombadja (Cunene), Gambos, Chibia and Lubango (Huíla) and Virei (Namibe), who benefited from more than a thousand 874.09 tons of food, 826 units of non-food goods.
The delegation included the Minister of Social Action, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, the governor of Cunene, Gerdina Didalelwa, the Secretaries of State for the Interior, Agriculture, Social Action and senior officials from the Presidency of the Republic and the Military House.
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