Dental Care visit to Bluewaters Refugee Camp

While the dentist was attending to his patience, ADRO used the time to talk to the refugees and hear some of their challenges they were facing. One resident told us that he had been attacked by police officers because he enquired (possibly aggressively) about the camp's future. He said that during the attack one of his front teeth had been broken. The refugees still living in this camp are malnourished and without access to healthcare. The camps electricity supply was turned off once the decision was made to evict the refugees Many of them spoke of other residents in the camp who had recently become ill and been taken to hospital. One man believed some people were suffering from Cholera, but ADRO is uncertain of the validity of this.

Several NGOs that had previously been supplying food to the camp had not delivered any packages over the Christmas period. The Red Cross was criticized for only offering food to children. A retired nurse visits the camp each morning from 9am until 2pm, offering basic treatments and advice. One refugee spoke of the difficulty they were experiencing in attempting to renew their refugee permits with the Department of Home Affairs. He said they had waited outside the office for hours and were not seen by an official. During one visit, the police (using rubber bullets) fired upon the crowd waiting outside the department of Home Affairs. Several people were reportedly injured and taken to the local hospital. One man spoke of how he had been told by government officials that they would not deport him to his country of origin and he could not stay at the camp. He therefore felt trapped, since he had been robbed and attacked in the community where he had previously been residing. He said that he would almost rather return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (where he was originally from) than remain at the refugee camp without food and basic facilities.