Ugandan refugees stage sit-in

Gothataone Moeng | Tuesday March 11, 2014 15:46

 

Timothy Yamin, 42, Peter Muganga and Musa Isabirye (both 35) have pledged to sit at the building that houses the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), until their grievances are addressed.

In a letter directed to the UNDP country coordinator, the refugees say they decided to stage a sit-in because their attempts to talk to UNHCR representatives have yielded no results.

At the heart of their complaints is a desire to live outside the refugee camp, which they describe as a prison. The refugees say that they do not get enough food and clothes and they are unable to get jobs, as the 1954 Convention on the status of refugees does not allow them to seek work. Moreover, Botswana’s Refugee (Recognition and Control) Act does not provide for the naturalisation of refugees, no matter how long they stay in the country. Yamin has been in Botswana for 16 years, while his two compatriots have been here for 14 years each.

They write in the letter to the UNDP coordinator that the Botswana’s refugee policy is uncompromising. It has no integration provisions due to the reservation that Botswana made when it signed the 1954 Convention.  “Thus, we as refugees are not allowed to leave camp at will, we are not allowed to work and enjoy only a limited right to education and the list of grievances goes on,” the Ugandans say. 

Yamin says that when they try to relocate, the UNHCR and Botswana government thwart their efforts by convincing the targeted host countries that their status in Botswana is good.

“We are not provided with enough, per month you get 12.5kg of phaleche, 1kg of beans, 1kg of sugar .  We are not provided with clothes, right now we are going into winter but we don’t have blankets,” Isabirye says.

The refugees say they have applied for refugee status in countries such as Australia, Norway and Canada.  But they still need a recommendation from the Botswana UNHCR office, which is not forthcoming. “They are telling the outside world that we are well-off,” Yamin says.

The refugees say voluntary repatriation to Uganda is not an option as they fear imprisonment or even death if they go back.  They think resettlement in another country will allow them to get jobs and provide for their families.

Yamin is a father of three. “We are not saying they should feed us, we just want to be allowed to work, to provide for our families. We want to live just as any other person, free.”  Yamin says he is concerned because he does not have national identity documents and he does not know the immigration status of his children.

“I don’t know where they belong.  How long will they be in this situation? What will happen to them if I die?” he asks.

The Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security says the three men are lying in a bid to coerce the government and UNHCR to resettle them. “This ministry has to state that regular inspections within the Dukwi Refugee Camp have found all claims made by the three gentlemen to be unfounded and devoid of any truth, except being malicious and aimed at causing discomfort to the law abiding refugees who have come to Botswana with credible submissions for asylum seeking. Notably, they have failed to rally anybody behind them,” writes Samma Tabudi, principal PRO at the ministry. 

Tabudi disputes the Ugandans claim that some countries have shown interest in hosting them. He says one of the men is an illegal immigrant and not a refugee and plans are afoot to deport him. He says Yamin, who is married to a Motswana is disgruntled because of his failure to meet citizenship requirements, while Isabirye has refused to comply with the Refugees Act.

The UNHCR website says Botswana strictly enforces the encampment policy and that this compromises the ability of refugees to earn a living, thus leaving them dependent on the state. “Refugees found outside the camp without valid permits can be detained for long periods. This has led to social problems, including survival sex, SGBV, high school-dropout rates and substance abuse,” the website says.

It says the UNHCR wants Botswana to lift its reservations to the 1951 Convention and intensify its efforts to persuade the authorities to find alternatives to detention.