UN agency starts relocating Mozambican refugees in Malawi

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday announced that a major relocation operation aimed at improving living conditions for nearly 10,000 Mozambican asylum-seekers began in southern Malawi, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told reporters here.

Last month, the government of Malawi authorised UNHCR to relocate the Mozambican asylum-seekers to a former camp at Luwani that has been re-opened for this purpose, Haq said at a daily news briefing here.

The majority of the Mozambican asylum-seekers, nearly 10,000, have so far been living in overcrowded conditions in an area about 100-kilometers south of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, he said.

A first group of 81 asylum-seekers left Nsanje district early Friday in two buses to make the 320-kilometer journey to Luwani in the country's southeast. On arrival, they will stay at a transit center for up to two days until they are provided with a plot of land, food, shelter materials and household items.

UNHCR has conducted intention surveys in all the transit centers over the past three weeks. The UN agency said that a majority of the Mozambican asylum-seekers have expressed willingness to be relocated to Luwani. The few families in Kapise that prefer not to relocate, will continue to receive information on Luwani, where there is more land and better access to services.

The relocation will be conducted in a phased manner over a period of six to eight weeks, with about 200 to 500 asylum-seekers scheduled to be relocated during the first convoy from Kapise. After this, convoys will be moving every other day.

Since last December, Malawi has seen an increase in new arrivals from Mozambique, peaking at more than 250 people per day in early March.

Luwani camp previously hosted Mozambican refugees during the 1977-1992 civil war and was finally closed in 2007. It has more than 160 hectares of land. Asylum-seekers will have better facilities and services there, including health, education, water and will be involved in self-reliance activities like agriculture.

UNHCR, together with various partners, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), UN Women and their partners are providing essential services in Kapise, including water and sanitation, food, shelter and health care, and psycho-social support. This assistance by UNHCR and partners will continue in Luwani.

Malawi already hosts some 25,000 refugees and asylum-seekers mostly from the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa in Dzaleka camp located some 35 kilometers from Lilongwe. This camp is already stretched to capacity, with severely limited resources to assist refugees. Endit