Dzaleka (Malawi) : over ten refugees murdered in two months

SOS Médias Burundi,

Dzaleka, July 29, 2025 – The Dzaleka camp, located about forty kilometers from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, is going through a period of intense insecurity. According to a report by the police and the camp administration, 16 refugees have been murdered since last May.

The victims – six Burundians, nine Congolese, and one Rwandan – are mostly traders and motorcycle riders. Their bodies were found dumped in or around the camp. Four unsolved kidnappings add to this heavy toll.

“How do armed criminals enter a camp supposedly protected by the police to kill and kidnap refugees?”, ask several residents, who suspect complicity within the police themselves.

Emergency meeting and reinforced measures

Faced with the resurgence of violence, a four-party meeting bringing together the administration, refugees, UNHCR, and the police was held last Thursday. Several measures were announced :

resumption of night patrols,

reinstatement of civilian guards whose salaries were unpaid,

introduction of a curfew starting at 8 p.m.,

ban on motorcyclists riding at night.

The police are also calling on refugees to be more vigilant and to promptly report any suspicious incidents.

Growing tensions with local communities

Beyond crime, refugees denounce increasingly difficult cohabitation with the host population. Some residents reportedly accuse refugees of benefiting from international aid deemed unfair and of coveting the local land.

These intercommunity tensions, combined with persistent insecurity, are fueling a climate of fear in this camp, which currently hosts more than 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

The refugees hope that the announced measures will allow for a return to security, an essential condition for their survival in this already fragile camp.