Legal practitioner Kadhila Amoomo is calling for the urgent establishment of a dedicated team to address the issue of Angolan children on the country's streets.
Amoomo calls for the commissioning of an investigation team to establish the details of these children and the way forward to get them off the streets.
He says interim measures should be put in place to make provision for feeding programmes, housing, education, and, most importantly, psychological support.
"Urgent interim measures should be deployed in order to make provision for feeding programmes, housing, and educating these children. While the special, dedicated team develops and formulates long-term solutions, such as either repatriation or finding a way to domesticate them, it is important that these children get to be provided with psychological support."
Amoomo further says that the labour to which the children seem to be subjected contravenes the Namibian constitution, which is against child exploitation.
The children on the streets further invalidate a number of articles in the United Nations International Convention on Child Labour and the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
"We also have the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of Children, which deems the child every human being below the age of 18 years, which also makes provision for the basic human rights of the children, which is not far from what is in the Namibian constitution."
Amoomo recently wrote a letter to President Nangolo Mbumba urging the Namibian government to implement effective measures to identify and assist vulnerable children, despite their nationality.
In a press statement, the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation says it is perturbed by messages circulating on social media alleging that the Namibian government is turning a blind eye to the issue of children from Angola who are wandering, selling, and begging on the streets of Windhoek and other towns in Namibia.
The Ministry says the allegations are devoid of any truth and are intended to misinform the Namibian public.
MIRCO says Namibia and Angola are in regular contact regarding the issue of these children and have made concerted efforts, in accordance with their obligations under international law, to address and find a permanent solution for the affected children.
This includes the repatriation of 18 children in June and October last year.
The Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare is currently housing four Angolan children at the Namibian Children Home in Windhoek as part of the ongoing efforts of the two governments.
The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation and the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare will, at the appropriate time, provide further updates on the common efforts of the two governments.