Osire

Osire is a refugee camp in central Namibia, situated 200 km north of the capital Windhoek next to the main road C30 from Gobabis to Otjiwarongo. It was established in 1992 to accommodate refugees from Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Somalia. The camp grew quickly in its early years, reaching a peak of 20,000 inhabitants in 1998. Since then the refugee population of Osire decreased steadily, approaching 6,500 in 2010, and 3,000 in 2014. Due to the cessation of conflicts in the countries where inhabitants originate from, the camp is scheduled to close. In 2008 the majority (75%) of refugees still resident here came from Angola, and a sizeable portion from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNHCR regards the camp as one of the best managed in the world, due to its provisioning of formal school education, both primary and secondary. The settlement further has a Police station and a clinic.