On this page, you will find:

To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Namibia LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Namibia country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Namibia COI page. 

Refugee protection

Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Namibia. 

The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Namibia is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.

In February 1995, Namibia acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. It incorporated provisions of the 1951 Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention into its domestic refugee legislation, the Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control) Act of 1999.

Namibia is not a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, nor to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Namibia’s domestic refugee legislation is the Namibia Refugees (Recognition and Control) Act of 1999.

Legal aid organisations

Address: Osire, Namibia
Tel: +264 81 27 94 892
Contact: Mr. Dominique Samba, President

ADR-Namibia is an organisation set up by refugees in Osire Refugee Camp, Namibia, to provide representation for and advocate on behalf of refugees who find themselves in the Camp. They work in partnership with other human rights organisations, such as the National Society of Human Rights, to provide assistance to refugees and report on abuses committed against them and their rights by the government of Namibia, UNHCR and others. For more information on the ADR see the Refugee Space Project.

Website
Address: PO Box 604, Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 22 33 56
Fax: +264 23 49 53
Email: info@lac.org.na

The Legal Assistance Centre is a non-profit public interest law center which provides legal assistance in cases that have a social as well as individual impact. It works to educate communities about their rights. Refugees are among the groups which have benefited from the Centre’s services. The Centre represented a number of refugees in court to have their rights protected.

Website
Address: Liberty Center, 116 John Meinert Street, Windhoek-West, P. O. Box 23592, Windhoek
Tel: +264 61 25 34 47 or +246 23 61 83 or +264 23 87 11
Fax: +264 61 23 42 86
Contact Persons: P. ya Nangoloh, Executive Director
Email: nshr@nshr.org.na or nshr@iafrica.com.na

Petrus Festus, Head Legal Officer
Email: legal@nshr.org.na or nshr@nshr.org.na

Steven Mvula, Head Public Relations and Media Liaison Officer
Email: nshr@nshr.org.na

As a frontline human rights monitoring and advocacy organisation, NSHR (soon to change name to NamRights or NR) monitors and advocates compliance with all civil, cultural, economic, environmental, political and social human rights instruments in a holistic style. NSHR employs 9 strategies to give effect to the respect, protection and realisation of those rights. With specific reference to the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, NSHR renders paralegal and legal services for refugees and asylum seekers by providing free legal advice and representations in court either directly or through other legal institutions (the latter whose costs NSHR pays for) as well as civic education on refugee and asylum seekers’ rights.

NSHR also regularly denounces via inter alia the media any violations of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and files complaints under the various UN special procedures, such as Urgent Appeals and Allegation Letters, in cases of life-threatening and extraordinary situations, such as refoulement, summary executions, torture and enforced disappearance. In addition to the legal and advocacy services rendered to refugees and asylum seekers as well as civic education and publicity about violations, NSHR also renders humanitarian services for needy refugees and asylum seekers, such as temporary accommodation, food and medical care in cases of emergency situations.

Organisations providing other support to refugees

Website
Facebook

AMSHeR advocates for the equal rights of sexual minorities in all spheres of Namibian society. They aspire to reduce the HIV incidence amongst LGBTI community, achieve a healthy LGBTI community that is resilient to homophobia and that has a sustainable future.

Facebook

Outright Namibia is ‘dedicated to the attainment of the full constitutional equality and equity of sexual diverse people in Namibia’.

Namibia LGBTQI+ Resources

Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Namibia.

Namibia COI

Find Namibia Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents. 

We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.

Last updated May 2023