Chaos erupted at the Ondangwa National Youth Service Centre, where a group of 73 Angolan children who have been selling items in the corridors of Namibia are housed.

The children were rounded up from Oshana, Erongo, |Khomas and parts of Oshikoto Regions.

The group of children took their belongings and demanded that they be released from the centre to go home after the media briefing by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security Lucia Witbooi and a team of other officials from the ministry.

Witbooi says the Cabinet has approved N$2.4 million for the upgrading of the centre and its upkeep.

Initially, they were 200, however, 120 have successfully been repatriated, and seven Namibian children were also sent back to their families.

After a heated confrontation, the police and security guards were forced to lock the centre's gate.

Deputy Minister Witbooi says Namibia is ready to release the children at any given time should the Angolan government indicate readiness to receive them.

"We are working together with the Angolan government embassy to work out a way to bring them back and reintegrate them with their families. This is just a temporary arrangement for them to get off the streets. They will not stay here forever. As soon as the Angolan government indicates we are ready, they can now come back, and they know where to take them. They tell us today that we are ready, and then from the Namibian side, we are ready to assist them up to the border. So it's a temporary thing."

The children have been housed at the centre for a month now and receive three meals daily in addition to other basic necessities.