The Malawian government has ordered thousands of long-integrated refugees to return to its sole but badly overcrowded refugee camp, in a move that many have vowed to resist.
The government gave the refugees 14 days until April 28 2021 to return to the camp or risk unspecified sanctions, prompting some refugees to seek court relief.
The country’s high court has stopped the relocation order until a judicial review is done.
The UN estimates there are around 2,000 refugees residing outside the camp at Dzaleka, about 40 kilometres north of the capital Lilongwe.
Many have lived there for years, setting up businesses in the town or marrying Malawians and having children with them.
But the government argues they pose a potential danger to national security by living among locals.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR in Malawi said the directive was in line with the country’s encampment laws, but advised the government to reconsider.
It said, according to an official communication it received from the Homeland Security ministry, the decision was also taken in the light of “security concerns in order to protect both refugees and host communities following the volatile situation in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado area”.
According to the UNHCR With an initial capacity of between 10,000 and 14,000 refugees around 1994, the camp now houses 49,386 people and several hundred continue to arrive each month.
The deadline for refugees to return to the camp was April 28, but a last-minute court injunction gave them a brief respite.
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