Nsanje District Council housing officer Moses Mumba says out of the projected 3 976 Mozambican asylum seekers at Nyamithuthu Refugee Settlement Camp, 1 436 have no tents.
He was reporting to Nsanje District Coordination Team yesterday at the camp and said they have mounted 70 family tents and five communal tents that will accommodate 445 households.
Said Mumba: “We thank the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] for providing us with 238 tents and another 250 tents which are in transit.
“If we add them, 2 540 people out of 3 976 will be accommodated. We will, therefore, need 288 family size tents or 72 communal ones to cover the deficit.”
He said 15 Malawi Defense Force officers and volunteers from the Malawi Red Cross Society were helping the council to mount the tents.
“Our budget for the work was at K4.5 million but 11 volunteers from Red Cross Society are supporting us,” said Mumba.
Ministry of Homeland Security Department of Refugees senior administrative and operations manager Hilda Kantema Kausiwa said the camp will also receive other asylum seekers who are at Chang’ambika in Chikwawa District; hence, the need for more tents.
On her part, Unicef Malawi child protection specialist Malla Mabona asked the shelter committee to provide land for children to play sporting activities.
She said: “During our visit on Saturday, we observed that some children were just loitering around without something to do.
“We want to develop facilities to help the children psychologically.”
The asylum seekers fled to Malawi following post-election protests after Mozambique’s Constitutional Council confirmed the victory of ruling Frelimo presidential candidate Daniel Chapo in the October 9 national elections.
