CAPRIVI REFUGEES DECISION IMMINENT

SOME 2000 Namibian refugees who fled the Caprivi Strip during a recent crackdown on secessionists will know “within days” if they are to be granted political in Botswana. According to a spokesperson of the Botswana government, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is expected to finish interviewing the asylum seekers within the next few days. An earlier UNHCR report advised the Botswana government in mid-November that it was plausible the refugees would face persecution if they went back to Namibia. The report concluded they did not plan to use Botswana as a base for an armed struggle for the independence of Caprivi. A November meeting in Gaborone between Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob and Botswana Deputy President Lieutenant-General Ian Khama agreed that the secessionists will only be returned to Namibia voluntarily.