Dzaleka (Malawi): more than 300 new refugees welcomed

The refugees and asylum seekers received at the Dzaleka camp in Malawi are from Burundi and the DRC. They had just spent more than six months on the border with Tanzania. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

They are mainly made of women, children and young people. “The men are very few in number”, as sources on the ground point out.

According to the first figures, there are between 180 and 200 households, made up of more than 300 people. They are mainly from Burundi and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).

“They are mostly in the 3rd host country after having passed through the camps either in Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda or Kenya”, reassures an official from the Dzaleka camp.

These asylum seekers enter via the Tanzanian border in northern Malawi. They are first blocked at this border post where they can wait up to six months, as is the case for these people, before being transferred to permanent camps.

At the Dzaleka camp, these newcomers are housed in tents inside the camp, before building their own houses.

“Here the camp administration shows you a place to build your own house, you make bricks yourself and the UNHCR only gives you sheet metal and doors. So those who do not have the means or strength to do this work can spend more than two years in the tent area,” explain Burundian refugees who have been living in this camp for some time.

“Fortunately, people help each other here,” they admit.

The Dzaleka camp, which is still hosting refugees, is overwhelmed, according to the administration, which has told refugees that a relocation plan is already underway. It has more than 50,000 refugees, including more than 11,000 Burundians, more than 3 times its capacity.