38 Burundi refugees repatriated
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repatriated 38 Burundians from Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District after they volunteered to return to their country.
The 38 are part of 161 refugees from Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have volunteered to go back to their countries, with the rest still on a waiting list.
The repatriated refugees left Malawi through Kamuzu International Airport at 2AM today and are expected to arrive in Bujumbura, Burundi at 1PM after a connection and three hour lay over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Briefing the refugees prior to their departure, UNHCR protection officer Ahmad Bashir said their officials and those of Burundi Government will welcome the 38 upon arrival in that country.
He said: “When you arrive in Burundi, your reintegration into the community will be the responsibility of the Burundi Government. However, you will be receiving food and non-food items for three months after also receiving $200 to enable you settle in.”
In her remarks, Department of Refugees senior administration and operations manager Hilda Kausiwa said this is the largest group of refugees to volunteer to return to their country.
She explained that voluntary repatriation is one of three ways refugees lose their refugee status, adding that when one is a refugee volunteer, it is the responsibility of the UNHCR to ensure that when repatriated, their lives back home will not be in danger.
Ntirandekura Salatiel, 40, who has lived at Dzaleka since 2011, said he was thankful to the Malawi Government and Malawians for the love shown through the years, but admitted he was leaving with uncertainties.
He said: “I ran away from a war. I don’t know what the future holds. I have been staying peacefully here in spite of other challenges such as inadequate financial support.”
In May this year, the Malawi Police Service, supported by the Malawi Defence Force, arrested over 400 refugees and asylum-seekers in Lilongwe, who were kept at Maula Prison before being moved to Dzaleka Camp.
The crackdown came about two months after the government issued an ultimatum for people to return to Dzaleka, an overcrowded camp.
