MALAWI (Nyasa Times) — Management of refugees at Dzaleka camp in Dowa is turning into an issue of great concern to Malawi authorities.
Just under a month the country’s law enforcers have intercepted over 300 Ethiopians for successfully running away from the camp and attempting to illegally flee the country.
First were 114 Ethiopians who were arrested in Dedza district as they tried to flee the country for South Africa via Mozambique. They were arrested after a truck they were using got stuck in the mud.
And a week later, another contingent of 62 Ethiopians was caught on time at Mwanza border as it attempted to crossed into Mozambique.
The latest incident occurred last Thursday when again a group of 164 Ethiopian men successfully beat the Malawian security system by sneaking out of the country without the law enforcers’ notice.
The group was apprehended by the neighbouring Mozambican police in Tete Province while on their way to South Africa.
Mwanza Police Station Officer Joel Makomwa confirmed that Mozambique police arrested the 164 refugees, who appeared frail due to lack of food, and repatriated them to Malawi.
“They were intercepted by our counterparts in Mozambique and they immediately brought them here. We have already dispatched some of them to Dzaleka,” he said.
It is strongly believed that the group is the same that has had futile attempts to flee the country before.
Dzaleka camp has about 10,000 refugees who fled from Somali, Ethiopia, DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda due to wars and other disasters.
While most refugees from other countries have opted for raiding the country’s urban and rural areas in search of business ventures, the Ethiopians have appeared to be very stubborn in that every case of refugees fleeing the place for Mozambique and South Africa involves them.