United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has trimmed its funding towards refugee operations in the country by 90 percent due to United States (US) Government aid cuts.
UNHCR national office head Precision Nkoka said in an interview yesterday that UNHCR has now pegged its current budget at $1 million (about K1.7 billion) from $8 million (about K13 billion) last year.
“This is due to a global financial reallocation and a shift of priorities the UNHCR is conducting following funding cuts from the US Government,” he said.
Nkoka said the funding gap has led to withdrawal of its support toward some food and non-food response programmes at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District.
Following the funding lapse, Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has said the refugee camp is currently facing a humanitarian crisis.
Speaking during the Regional Conference on the Rights of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Other Migrants in Mzuzu yesterday, MHRC civil and political rights director Peter Chisi said the crisis has spread to insecurity and lawlessness at the camp.
“There are issues of lawlessness at the Dzaleka Refugees Camp due to low enforcement of laws. Theft, gender-based violence and other criminal activities are now growing because UNHCR no longer supports Department of Refugees to pay law enforcement personnel at the site,” he said.
To curb the challenge, the gathering opted for several naturalisation and integrative solutions that include, resettlement and repatriation programmes, all owing to the need for the amendment of Refugees Act of 1989.
INUA Advocacy communications officer Brenda Buliyani said in an interview after the discussion that the revised law would allow some refugees to become citizens, freely ply businesses and become self-reliant so as to ease the burden on public funds.
“This process can also help decongest 62 000 refugees at Dzaleka Camp by half,” she added.
The meeting in Mzuzu was meant to brainstorm solutions to sustain lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
