BOTSWANA has decided to deport the 41 DRC refugees who fled Namibia three months ago back to their war-stricken country.

This was confirmed to The Namibian yesterday by Botswana's Defence, Justice, and Security Permanent Secretary Augustine Makgonatsotlhe.

He said his government was in consultation with the DRC government about the logistics of the deportation.

The group - 23 children and 18 adults - fled Namibia on July 7, saying they feared for their lives because of "death threats" from the Namibian Government after they complained of "unacceptable conditions" at the Osire Refugee Camp, where they had been living.

They remained at the Mamuno border post for three months, were arrested last week Tuesday and held at the Charleshill police station for a night, and were then taken to the Molepolole Refugee Reception Centre, some 50 km from Gaborone.

Group leader Joel Kabangu said in a message to National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) Phil ya Nangoloh that they were "treated like criminals" in appalling conditions there.

Asked why the group would be deported, Makgonatsotlhe said they did not qualify for refugee status according to Botswana's requirements and this made them illegal immigrants.

In Namibia, two of the families had been given refugee status, seven families were recognised as asylum seekers, and only one member of the group was denied refugee status.

Makgonatsotlhe told The Namibian that Namibia's decision not to allow the refugees back into the country did not influence Botswana's decision to deport them.

"We only went according to our own policies," he said.

Some media in Botswana have reported that the deportation is scheduled for next week, but Makgonatsotlhe said a date is still to be decided.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative for Botswana, Marciela Rodriguez-Farrelly, told The Namibian that she was unable to comment on the situation, as she was still awaiting formal notification from the country's President.

Questions to the UNHCR's head office in Pretoria were referred back to the Botswana office.

Earlier this week, the refugee agency warned more than 2 000 Congolese refugees in Burundi against returning to their homes in eastern DRC. It said their safety could not be guaranteed there because of violent armed conflict between government forces and various rebel militia in eastern DRC.

It is unclear where in the DRC the group will be taken. All 41 are from eastern DRC.

The NSHR doubts they'll be safe.

"They say there's an arrangement between the Kabila government and Botswana that they will be safe. But how can they guarantee the safety of those 41, if thousands of others are being told to stay away?" ya Nangoloh said.

He accused the Botswana government of endangering the refugees' lives by sending them back to a country they had fled from.

"The Botswana authorities should never say that they were not aware of what they were doing should something horrible happen to these people," he added.