Pregnant women in danger : the nurses’ strike already leaves four dead

SOS Médias Burundi,

Dzaleka, August 27, 2025 – The Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi is experiencing a serious health crisis. For two weeks, medical staff at the camp hospital have been on strike over unpaid wages, and the consequences have been terrible : four pregnant women have already died due to a lack of follow-up care during childbirth.

At Dzaleka General Hospital, the doors have remained closed since August 10. “They don’t even come to the ward. Imagine that even the emergency department isn’t functioning. We are miserable these days,” laments a refugee.

The maternity ward is the hardest hit. “Four pregnant women have already died due to lack of follow-up care during childbirth. Three of them were of Congolese origin and one was Burundian. This is unacceptable. We call on the UNHCR and the Malawian government to find an immediate solution,” said a local leader.

He added that “three Burundian women who attempted to give birth outside the camp were imprisoned by a private hospital located not far from Dzaleka, unable to pay the heavy bill that is increasing daily.”

The strike, which involves both refugee and Malawian staff, has been going on for more than 15 days. The strikers are demanding at least five months of back pay and refuse to return to work until their rights are restored. Last week, the camp president asked them to resume their activities, promising to plead their case, in vain.

The situation is more critical as the UNHCR claims to be short of resources. The UN agency recently ended several partnerships with NGOs, citing a lack of funding.

Dzaleka hosts more than 50,000 refugees, including over 10,000 Burundians. While waiting for a solution, camp residents are urgently appealing to nurses, “some of whom are refugees themselves,” to return to work as volunteers to save lives.