UNHCR advocates return of 6,000 Mozambican refugees “in safety,” says pressures on Malawi govt

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

UNHCR advocates return of 6,000 Mozambican refugees “in safety,” says pressures on Malawi govt

5:04 CAT | 18 Feb 2016

VOA Portugues/ Mozambican refugees in Kapise camp, Malawi.

The UNHCR representative in Malawi, Monique Enoko, on Tuesday rejected allegations by the Mozambican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Odemiro Baloi that she had advised Mozambican refugees there not to return home.

Speaking to VOA from Malawi, Ekolo denied she had said the refugees should remain in Malawi indefinitely, but only that they must return when conditions in Mozambique permit.

“The return of refugees to Mozambique is a free process, but they have told us they are fleeing conflict, that their homes have been burned down and that they are afraid to return to their villages. We have told Foreign Minister Baloi that they must return only when the situation is stabilised,” she said.

“When there are no kidnappings, when armed forces stop fighting, when there is an end to insecurity, when people are no longer killed – when, in short, there are conditions for people to live,” the UNHCR will encourage them to return, because “home is home”.

The UNHCR representative said there were upwards of six thousand Mozambican refugees in Malawi, more than the 5,600 claimed by the government in Maputo.

“Unfortunately we have about six thousand of them crowded in. We have to wait for more land, more space, which is not happening. There are pressures on the Malawi government not to do it, but that is not our problem,” Enoko said.

Ekolo however added that Malawi was doing its part giving asylum to the Mozambican refugees, and would continue providing subsistence with the help of the international community.

Source: VOA Portugues