By Phyllis Kachere and Itai Mazire
TWENTY-FIVE refugees have died in Zimbabwe, it has been reported.
The refugees mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo died at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge, the only refugee sanctuary in the country.
The 25 dead, died in the past nine months due to an outbreak of disease caused by the squalid living conditions under which the refugees live.
However, the Secretary for Labour and Social Services, Mr Lancaster Museka, rejected claims that there was an outbreak of disease in the camp.
“We can confirm that since the beginning of the year a total of 25 refugees have died. All nationalities are equally affected although the Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered the most with five deaths. The number of deaths recorded among the Congolese is just a reflection of the camp population ratios,” said Mr Museka.
As of end of September, the DRC had a camp population of 2 769 out of the 4 025 resident at the Chipinge camp.
Mr Museka said there was no specific common disease claiming lives in the Tongogara Refugee Camp and there has never been any disease outbreak in the camp.
According to research findings of various relief organisations on causes of deaths in refugee camps in Southern Africa, the major killers were measles, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, hepatitis B and cholera — diseases usually associated with overcrowded conditions.
A visit to the camp by our correspondent revealed poor living conditions with some refugees claiming that the food rations they received were inadequate for their day-to-day sustenance.
Teams of some camp residents building or repairing members’ mud houses could be seen going about their work.
“Living conditions in this camp are poor. While we get food rations from the Zimbabwe Government and the UN, this is not adequate. We have to build our own houses and yet we are not allowed to work. How are we surely expected to survive?” remarked Congolese citizen Mr Jose Ndage-Dikanu, whose wife and three children are also in the camp.
He said there was no resident medical doctor at the camp clinic to attend to the health needs of the 4 000-strong population.
But Mr Museka said the absence of a resident doctor was not problematic as there was an effective referral system with the Chipinge District Hospital where deserving cases were referred.
A mother with two young children also complained of the food shortages they experienced at the camp. A poster on the walls of the administration block summed up what some refugees at the camp spoke about.
It read: “Gnawing hunger, snow-bound passes, icy rivers. Finally, food, protection and three long years in a refugee camp. Then back to a ruin that once was home and a life to build again. It takes courage to be a refugee.”
Currently, Tongogara Refugee Camp has a population of 4 025 with the DRC having the highest population of 2 769. Zimbabwe hosts a total of 4 651 refugees and 646 asylum seekers from Angola, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Lebanon and Djibouti. There are 2 318 children under 18, 1 040 men, 641 women and 26 elderly people at the camp.
Mr Museka said in the event that a refugee died, the Government was not obliged to inform that person’s relatives or their country of origin.
“If a refugee dies there is no need for us to notify the home government since a refugee enjoys international protection in the country of asylum to protect him or her. The host government does not have an obligation to report to the country of origin’s government concerning the type of refugees it is hosting,” he said.
He said Government was working with the international community to facilitate the repatriation of Rwanda nationals in the camp.
“Zimbabwe and the international community are yet to sign the cession clause for the Rwandese caseload.
“Information campaign for possible voluntary repatriation of the Rwandese caseload is being done in view of the impending cession clause in December 2011.
“For the other nationalities the situation back home (country of origin) has not improved for us to discuss possible repatriation with them,” said Mr Museka.
Statistics from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare show that, as at August 12, there were 650 Rwandans at Tongogara Refugee Camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment