Thousands of Mozambicans have fled to Malawi seeking refuge from post-election violence, looting, and gang attacks. Despite Malawi facing its own challenges, including drought and food shortages, locals have warmly welcomed the refugees.
Malawi ans have welcomed refugees from Mozambique with meals, despite the country’s president declaring a state of disaster after a severe drought. Marauding gangs and political unrest since October’s polls have driven thousands of Mozambicans across the border into Malawi , despite its drought, food and fuel shortages. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Manase Madia, 50, shows his Mozambican identity card. Once a sign of pride, he does not know what to believe in any more.
Over the past few weeks he has seen houses being burned down, and shops and businesses looted, including his own. He now fears for his family, which has scattered in fear. At a community ground where officials are processing new arrivals before being transferred to a shelter, Madia is one of about 13,000 people who have crossed into Malawi in the past two months, seeking refuge from post-election violence in Mozambique. The arrival of the refugees, albeit in smaller numbers, is reminiscent for people here of the civil war when almost a million Mozambicans fled to Malawi. In December, Mozambique’s constitutional council upheld the earlier decision, sparking fresh violence. While political members were targeted initially, the protests have metamorphosed into criminality and looting with businesspeople and those who are well off, like Madia, being targeted by marauding gangs. Madia, who hid in the bush after being tipped off that he was a target, managed to leave the country on a motorbike with his wife and one of his 12 children
Mozambique Malawi Refugees Political Unrest Drought
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