adminLuthando Mapepa
THOUSANDS of refugees in Zimbabwe recently gathered at the country’s biggest refugee camp, Tongogara Refugee Camp, to commemorate World Refugee Day.
This year’s belated World Refugee Day celebrations were held under the theme: “Get to know a refugee”.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Cde Prisca Mupfumira, Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Cde Mandi Chimene encouraged refugees to regard themselves as important people and never to give up on their lives.
She called on the community to shun discrimination and racism against fellow brothers and sisters of Africa.
“We are urging all the local community to understand the plight of our fellow brothers and sisters and accommodate them since everyone can be a refugee somewhere,” Cde Chimene said.
She was impressed by the skill and abilities displayed by the inhabitants of Tongogara, who demonstrated incredible capability and capacity to improve their life through meaningful livelihood programmes in areas of agriculture, health and education through the help of humanitarian organisation.
“We appreciated the role being played by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in catering for refugees and I want to assure refuges at Tongogara that Government will also take care and protect the marginalised who are women, children, the elderly and child headed families,” she added.
UNHCR country representative Mrs Millicent Mutuli thanked Government for its generosity to accommodate refugees and encouraged refugees to learn to live with what they have.
“Our organisation is grateful from the hospitality they take in accommodating refugees from different countries in Africa. This is a sign that Zimbabwe is peaceful and people loving countries who accepts different race,” she said.
Speaking at the same event, Refugee Community Representative Mr Christopher Mukunde from Democratic Republic of Congo thanked Government of Zimbabwe for its support to refugees.
“We would like to thank Government of Zimbabwe for providing us with decent shelter.
“Government has improved our shelter by providing us with iron sheets to replace our grass huts,” said Mr Mukunde.
Refugees in the country comprise of those from Congo, Mali, Eritrea, Namibia, Somalia and Sudan, with those from Congo being the highest.
A total of five refugee camps were opened in Zimbabwe to cater for over 150 000 refugees, with Tongogara Camp having a total of 50 000 refugees.
Online Reporter