n Malawi, our staff are rushing to install additional facilities for 3,000 refugees at Dzaleka refugee camp following a government order to close the only other refugee camp in the country. Although UNHCR will take until July to move all the refugees and asylum seekers from Luwani camp, it will have some of the necessary facilities in place in Dzaleka by the government's deadline of May 31.
The government said its decision at the end of last month to close Luwani was prompted by increasing concern at the number of asylum seekers who arrive from Ethiopia and Somalia, claim asylum, stay a few days at Luwani and then disappear over the border into Mozambique en route to South Africa. It termed these arrivals - from what it sees as the unstable Horn of Africa - a threat to its own security. Luwani is located near the southern border with Mozambique, while Dzaleka is near the capital, Lilongwe, in the centre of the country. The government believes placing all asylum seekers in Dzaleka, further from the border, will reduce the number using Malawi purely as a transit route for heading toward South Africa.
The government also announced the deployment of soldiers to reinforce police along Malawi's northern border with Tanzania in order to tighten control on undocumented crossings. UNHCR has welcomed the government's assurance that these changes in policy, which are its right, do not mean any reduction in the government's international commitment to continue providing asylum to refugees. It is imperative that legitimate asylum seekers still have access to protection.
With the decision to close Luwani, the government also stopped moving newly arrived asylum seekers from the transit station it operated with UNHCR near the border with Tanzania. That has resulted in a build-up of asylum seekers at the transit station, which has a normal capacity of about 100 people but now holds more than 350. The government wants new asylum seekers moved to Dzaleka, which had previously been considered full with its current 5,000 residents. UNHCR is working to ensure a makeshift reception centre for new arrivals is available at Dzaleka by the end of the month.
The transfer of the 3,000 refugees from Luwani - likely to begin in the second half of June and take up to a month to complete -- will require additional school and medical facilities at Dzaleka. Initially refugees will be housed in temporary structures and tents before they erect homes. Building materials for traditional houses - wooden poles and grass - is already being stockpiled. To ensure the disruption to education is minimized, students at first may have to study in makeshift structures. Unlike those asylum seekers who quickly transit through Malawi with the apparent services of traffickers - the group who triggered the government's closure of Luwani -- most of the refugees to be relocated have been long-term residents of the camp. Some had hoped to become self-sufficient through farming at Luwani but there is little land available at Dzaleka so they will remain dependent on aid.
Showing posts with label UNHCR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNHCR. Show all posts
Friday, 25 May 2007
UNHCR rushes to move 3,000 refugees after Malawi closes a camp
DZALEKA REFUGEE CAMP, Malawi, May 25 (UNHCR) – With a government deadline for the closure of Malawi's second refugee camp looming, the UN refugee agency is rushing to prepare facilities for 3,000 refugees who must be shifted to the country's remaining camp.
While it will take another two months to transfer everyone from Luwani Refugee Camp – just completing the numerous truck convoys carrying them the 350 kilometres between camps will take several weeks – the first of the emergency facilities will be in place by the government's May 31 target.
UNHCR has hired refugees already living in Dzaleka Refugee Camp to help in the preparations, stacking grass and wooden poles that will be used with sun-dried mud bricks to build new houses. A contractor has been hired to drill the first of many new wells that will be needed.
A number of houses that had been vacated by refugees who left Malawi – either repatriating or resettled to other countries – are being repaired to provide shelter for the most vulnerable of the families who are moving from Luwani. The population of the camp, located just outside the capital Lilongwe, will rise to about 8,500.
"Our obvious concern in the camp is that the pressure of time and money are not sufficient to allow us to put facilities in place in time," said Haji Jama Abdulkadir, UNHCR's representative in Malawi. The agency is trying to allocate more funds. "We are trying to meet all the additional needs but we need extra money; it will take time and is going to be difficult."
The first priority has been building a shelter for new asylum seekers arriving in Malawi. When the government ordered the closing of Luwani late last month, it also stopped transferring all new arrivals from a small transit shelter near the northern border with Tanzania to the camp far in the south of Malawi, 30 km from Mozambique.
The transit centre, built for a maximum of 100 people, is now overflowing with more than 350. The government says it will be closed and future asylum seekers – the flow is almost all from the north – will be moved on arrival to Dzaleka.
The government actions, including a proposal to use soldiers to reinforce police on the northern border, reflect their stated reason for closing Luwani less than four years after it was opened and Dzaleka was declared full. The government had complained increasingly about the large number of young men from Somalia and Ethiopia who claim asylum but quickly disappear over the southern border to Mozambique, en route to South Africa.
"The security of the nation is at great risk," said the government statement on the closure of Luwani. It suggested many asylum seekers were former soldiers and some might have settled illegally inside Malawi. "Secondly, the country's asylum system has been abused and a lot of resources have been wasted." The statement said the flow was aided by professional traffickers and neighbouring countries had complained Malawi was not doing enough to stop it.
The government says placing new arrivals at Dzaleka, far from the border, will make Malawi less attractive as a transit route. However, some doubt the additional distance to the border will deter people determined to reach South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse.
Although UNHCR shares the concern about abuse of the asylum regime – and recognizes the government's right to determine where refugees live – it has emphasized the difficulty in separating those in need of the protection of refugee status from economic migrants. The government has assured UNHCR that, despite tighter border controls, it remains committed to its international obligations to admit and protect asylum seekers.
Inside Dzaleka, UNHCR's immediate concern is to ensure those arriving from Luwani re-establish their lives as quickly as possible. Shelter will initially be basic – some will have to share large sleeping sheds erected for those moved from the northern border until they can make their own huts. The student population will rise about 50 percent, with no early prospect of new classrooms.
Longer term, prospects for residents of Dzaleka are not promising. Refugees in Luwani who had been awaiting a UNHCR irrigation scheme that could have made them self-sufficient, will find little opportunity now. Buildings will take up about half the camp area, leaving little land for even garden plots. For the foreseeable future they will remain dependent on food rations and other aid.
"Malawi has always been a generous host to refugees – remember it is a very poor country," said Abdulkadir. "But there is frustration among refugees who have been here for many years at the lack of jobs and opportunities. Few want to repatriate and Malawi will not consider local integration. Resettlement to other countries is the major outlet."
By Jack Redden
in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi
While it will take another two months to transfer everyone from Luwani Refugee Camp – just completing the numerous truck convoys carrying them the 350 kilometres between camps will take several weeks – the first of the emergency facilities will be in place by the government's May 31 target.
UNHCR has hired refugees already living in Dzaleka Refugee Camp to help in the preparations, stacking grass and wooden poles that will be used with sun-dried mud bricks to build new houses. A contractor has been hired to drill the first of many new wells that will be needed.
A number of houses that had been vacated by refugees who left Malawi – either repatriating or resettled to other countries – are being repaired to provide shelter for the most vulnerable of the families who are moving from Luwani. The population of the camp, located just outside the capital Lilongwe, will rise to about 8,500.
"Our obvious concern in the camp is that the pressure of time and money are not sufficient to allow us to put facilities in place in time," said Haji Jama Abdulkadir, UNHCR's representative in Malawi. The agency is trying to allocate more funds. "We are trying to meet all the additional needs but we need extra money; it will take time and is going to be difficult."
The first priority has been building a shelter for new asylum seekers arriving in Malawi. When the government ordered the closing of Luwani late last month, it also stopped transferring all new arrivals from a small transit shelter near the northern border with Tanzania to the camp far in the south of Malawi, 30 km from Mozambique.
The transit centre, built for a maximum of 100 people, is now overflowing with more than 350. The government says it will be closed and future asylum seekers – the flow is almost all from the north – will be moved on arrival to Dzaleka.
The government actions, including a proposal to use soldiers to reinforce police on the northern border, reflect their stated reason for closing Luwani less than four years after it was opened and Dzaleka was declared full. The government had complained increasingly about the large number of young men from Somalia and Ethiopia who claim asylum but quickly disappear over the southern border to Mozambique, en route to South Africa.
"The security of the nation is at great risk," said the government statement on the closure of Luwani. It suggested many asylum seekers were former soldiers and some might have settled illegally inside Malawi. "Secondly, the country's asylum system has been abused and a lot of resources have been wasted." The statement said the flow was aided by professional traffickers and neighbouring countries had complained Malawi was not doing enough to stop it.
The government says placing new arrivals at Dzaleka, far from the border, will make Malawi less attractive as a transit route. However, some doubt the additional distance to the border will deter people determined to reach South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse.
Although UNHCR shares the concern about abuse of the asylum regime – and recognizes the government's right to determine where refugees live – it has emphasized the difficulty in separating those in need of the protection of refugee status from economic migrants. The government has assured UNHCR that, despite tighter border controls, it remains committed to its international obligations to admit and protect asylum seekers.
Inside Dzaleka, UNHCR's immediate concern is to ensure those arriving from Luwani re-establish their lives as quickly as possible. Shelter will initially be basic – some will have to share large sleeping sheds erected for those moved from the northern border until they can make their own huts. The student population will rise about 50 percent, with no early prospect of new classrooms.
Longer term, prospects for residents of Dzaleka are not promising. Refugees in Luwani who had been awaiting a UNHCR irrigation scheme that could have made them self-sufficient, will find little opportunity now. Buildings will take up about half the camp area, leaving little land for even garden plots. For the foreseeable future they will remain dependent on food rations and other aid.
"Malawi has always been a generous host to refugees – remember it is a very poor country," said Abdulkadir. "But there is frustration among refugees who have been here for many years at the lack of jobs and opportunities. Few want to repatriate and Malawi will not consider local integration. Resettlement to other countries is the major outlet."
By Jack Redden
in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi
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