“Call for port extension to be halted as genocide remains are found on Namibia’s Shark Island
By Caroline Kimeu
8 May 2024
Researchers say more bodies of Herero and Nama people from early 20th century concentration camp could be in waters around port
The Namibian authorities are being urged to halt plans to extend a port on the Shark Island peninsula after the discovery of unmarked graves and artefacts relating to the Herero and Nama genocide.
Forensic Architecture, a non-profit research agency, says it has located sites of executions, forced labour, imprisonment and sexual violence that occurred when the island was used by the German empire as a concentration camp between 1905 and 1907.
More than 65 000 Herero and 10 000 Nama people were killed by German troops between 1904 and 1908, in what is widely acknowledged as the first genocide of the 20th century.
The attack was in retaliation to a revolt against colonial rule led by paramount chief Samuel Maharero. Many were killed in the camp on the peninsula.
Researchers say there was a “credible” risk that human remains could be found in the waters around the peninsula’s port, which the authorities want to expand to support green hydrogen production along the country’s south coast.
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- Full report on the website of The Namibian (last checked in May 2024)
- Original report on the website of British newspaper The Guardian (last checked in May 2024)
- Report of Forensic Architecture on the concentration camp on Shark Island 1905 – 1907, published on 12 April 2024 (last checked in May 2024)