Malawi receives US$80m to establish a second refugee camp

* Set to help ease congestion of 53,000 refugees, asylum seekers at country’s only camp at Dzaleka in Dowa

* Hosts refugees from DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, who have been living there since the early 1990s

By Jamal Jamal

Malawi has received US$80 million from the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees (UNHCR) toward the construction of a second refugee camp in the Northern Region, an official told Anadolu on Tuesday.

The country hosts 53,000 refugees and asylum seekers at its only refugee camp, Dzaleka in Central Region’s Dowa District where refugees from DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia have been living there since the early 1990s.

Homeland Security Minister Zikhale Ng’oma, told Anadolu that the support would help construct a second camp that “would ease out congestion at Dzaleka which currently hosts more than what it requires”.

“As a nation, we are overwhelmed by an influx of refugees coming to Malawi on a daily basis seeking a place where they would find peace,” he said. “But we are having challenges to accommodate all of them at one camp.

“This donation is therefore a response to our appeal to have another facility in the northern region of the country. We would like to have a place where refugees and asylum seekers would stay and conduct their businesses without any challenges,” said the Minister.

Malawi is implementing a joint voluntary refugee repatriation program with the UN refugee agency “to allow refugees and asylum seekers to return to their home countries willingly.”

The program has so far seen 200 refugees returning to their countries and George Phiri, a social commentator told Anadolu that there was a need for a “practical solution to minimise an influx of refugees coming to the country in order to address some social challenges which the country is experiencing due to the high numbers of refugees coming to the country”.

“We understand what is happening elsewhere across Africa, but let continental bodies like the African Union work out a practical solution that would see to it that people don’t run away from their home countries. As a nation, we are overwhelmed by the number of people we are hosting,” Phiri said.

Dzaleka camp was established in 1994 to host 12,000 refugees and asylum seekers but has grown in its population. There have been concerns about a recent proliferation of firearms among refugees at Dzaleka, a situation that security organs claim has fueled insecurity in some parts of the country.

In 2023, the Malawi government forcibly removed all refugees who were doing business in major towns and cities and relocated them to the camp, a move which was widely condemned by human rights bodies as “gross abuse of refugees’ rights.”

The government has always defended the move claiming it was done “in the interest of national security.”

At the camp, refugees are provided a monthly living allowance and food rations — this assistance is not enough as oftenly observed by Inua Advocasy — the independent civil society organisation that advocates for refugee rights in Malawi and beyond.

Founded by Innocent Magambi — a former refugee for 27 years, Inua Advocacy collects and escalate complaints from refugees about the services they receive, and demand appropriate action.

Its goal is to hold those who serve refugees accountable and press for appropriate action from service providers.

It is also advocating for amendments to the 1989 Refugee Act which imposes the indefinite encampment of all refugees without the right to work; freedom of movement; nor prospect for integration.

It is pushing for implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) according to the pledges made in 2016 and 2019 — and among others, the pledges made for rolling out the CRRF include incorporating refugees into the National Development Agenda;  introducing a settlement approach and self–reliance to enhance integrated development of the refugees and local community

Of great concern, which Inua keeps highlighting to the media, is that the refugees and asylum seekers are denied by Malawi government to access some essential services such as education, health and the right to economic activities outside Dzaleka Camp.

The health services are not adequate enough for the population of 53,000 people while at the completion of secondary school, strictly at Dzaleka Community Day Secondary School, they are denied access to public universities.

They fail to enroll for private universities because they are not allowed for an extended exit from the camp, but just a day-long pass for emergencies.

When asked why many refugees and asylum seekers choose Malawi, a representative of the Somali community said told the media that “Malawi is one of the safest places to live compared to other African countries”.

The 1951 Refugee Convention, defines a person as a refugee, who has fled their home country to another country due to fear of persecution on the basis of their race, political opinion, religion, war and also includes people who have fled their homes due to natural or man-made disasters.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express