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In an effort to stop the expansion plans for the Port of Lüderitz, the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) and the Owaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) submitted an urgent appeal to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) last month over concerns that the development could obliterate the remains of the former Shark Island concentration camp.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is a United Nations body composed of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
In a statement yesterday, the two organizations said the expansion plans posed an imminent danger to the former concentration camp, which was a key site of the German colonial genocide against the Nama and Owaherero peoples between 1904 and 1908.
The expansion forms part of the government’s wider plan to build infrastructure and play a key role in the emerging green hydrogen industry.
Urgency
“Namport’s report to the NTLA in April indicated that construction of the project would begin in early 2025, highlighting the urgency of the intervention,” the statement read.
“The proposed port expansion will not only affect Shark Island, it will also disturb the resting place of the many Nama and Owaherero people who died there. This will most likely be done through underwater dredging, disturbing the remains of the victims thrown into the water.”
Both factions stressed the need to address the issue of the remains, adding that a plan should be agreed on how to commemorate and protect the burial sites. They also claimed that the planned expansion desecrates and undermines the identity of marginalized, racialized communities left over from the genocide and lays the groundwork for increased violations of the rights of such communities.
‘Wanzhi ignoring’
“Previous development activities have shown reckless disregard for the site and demonstrated disregard for the history of the genocide, while the new plan will effectively erase all traces of this catastrophic event from the ethnic and community psyche,” said leaders of the Nama and Owaherero tribes.
Due to the importance of the site, they want to put the port expansion plans on hold pending consultation with affected communities.
“We urge the Commission to urgently address this matter given its direct impact on communities, the erasure of key sites of the genocide, its long-term adverse impact on Namibia’s historical narrative, and the lack of community consultation and involvement in making a decision that will further exacerbate structural racial discrimination in Namibia,” the statement said. “We call on the Commission to adopt a decision calling on the Namibian government to immediately cease its activities and consult with communities.”
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