Women and children in Malawi not refugees but “families of Renamo men” – Tete governor

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O País / Paulo Auade, governor of Tete province

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Women and children in Malawi not refugees but “families of Renamo men” – Tete governor

12:05 CAT | 01 Mar 2016

“Who is burning houses, you know, it is Renamo. Who attacks the people, it is the Renamo. Don’t we know that?” The governor of Tete province, Paulo Auade, denies that there are any Mozambican refugees in Malawi, and claims that the people in the Kapise camp are displaced, mostly Malawians fleeing famine in their own country.

Governor Auade also said that the few Mozambican displaced there are in Malawi are the families of Renamo combatants and accused Dhlakama’s guerrillas of having set fire to the homes of the population of Nkondezi. Auade also says that Renamo is responsible for attacks on the roads and destruction of property while the population is trying to build the country.

The following is a partial transcript of an interview with the governor of the province from which more than 7,000 Mozambican refugees have fled into Malawi, published by O País online.

O País: What is being done to prevent more Mozambicans from taking refuge in Malawi, and to help those who are there to return home?

Paulo Auade: But who is crossing to Malawi?

O País: Mozambican refugees …

Paulo Auade: Do not talk to me about refugees, because there are no refugees. What there are in Malawi are displaced people. If we pay attention, day after day, the numbers are rising. In Malawi there is drought, as in Mozambique, and some Malawians pose as displaced people at strategic points on our border. So we have no refugees in Malawi.

Source: O País