The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says relocation of some 10,000 Mozambican asylum-seekers to Malawi aimed at improving the conditions in which they are living has started on Friday.
A statement by the agency said a first group of 81 asylum-seekers left Nsanje district on two buses to make the 320-km journey to Luwani in the country’s southeast.
“On arrival, they will stay at a transit centre for up to two days until they are provided with a plot of land, food, shelter materials and household items,” the statement read.
Since last December, Malawi has seen an increase in new arrivals from Mozambique, peaking at more than 250 people per day in early March.
The numbers have since decreased significantly, but those who have managed to cross have informed the UNHCR that they were turning to alternate routes due to increased military presence along the border.
The UNHCR further called upon all actors to respect the right to seek asylum.
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 the purpose.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has partnered with the UN Refugee Agency to provide logistical support.
According to the UN, the majority of the Mozambican asylum-seekers, nearly 10,000, have been living in overcrowded conditions in an area about 100-kilometres south of the capital Lilongwe.
Most are in the village of Kapise, close to the border with Mozambique, where heavy rains are at present making roads impassable.
For this reason, UNHCR and the Government of Malawi agreed that the transfer to Luwani would begin first with families located in the district of Nsanje.
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 35kms from Lilongwe. The camp is already stretched to capacity, with severely limited resources to assist refugees.
The UNHCR said it would together with the UNICEF, WFP, IOM, UN Women, MSF, Plan International, Acción Contra el Hambre-Spain, Plan International, Oxfam, World Vision, Norwegian Church Aid, and Participatory Rural Development Organisation (PRDO) continue to provide essential services, including water and sanitation, food, shelter and health care, and psycho-social support to the refugees in Luwani.