Mozambican authorities have assured thousands of refugees who fled to Malawi following the recent post-election unrest that peace has been restored in their country and that they are welcome to return home.
Officials from Mozambique's Institute of Disaster Management Affairs made the comment Friday during a visit to the Nyamithuthu refugee camp in Nsanje district, which hosts asylum seekers from Mozambique.
Luisa Celma Meque, the head of the Institute of Disaster Management Affairs in Mozambique, thanked the Malawi government for taking care of asylum-seekers from her country.
"On behalf of our President Daniel Francisco Chapo, we are sending our message of thanks from the government of Mozambique, and we recognize all the effort of the government of Malawi," said Meque. "The second message is for our brothers here. We are doing all efforts necessary for them to return home as soon as possible"
Thousands of Mozambicans have fled to Malawi to escape violence triggered by the disputed October presidential election.
Hilda Katema Kausiwa, the senior administrative and operations manager for the Department of Refugees in Malawi, said the screening and registration of refugees continues.
"Today, as the Department of Refugees, we have registered a total of 3,640 households, representing 7,456 people," said Kausiwa. "As of yesterday, we had finished registration in Mwanza, Neno as well as Mulanje [districts] which were additional sites that we had not gone to screen and register together with immigration [officers]."
Kausiwa said her department has received no new asylum-seekers from Mozambique so far.
Meque of the Institute of Disaster Management Affairs in Mozambique said peace has returned to the country.
Malawian authorities said they are struggling to provide for refugees because the situation comes at a time when more than a quarter of Malawi's 20 million people face food shortages due to an El Nino-induced drought.
However, during the visit, the Mozambican delegation donated food to the refugees.
Kausiwa of the Department of Refugees in Malawi, appreciated the donation.
"And in the package, there is some rice, maize flour, salt and some beans," said Kausiwa. "These are critical foods that can be provided to the community noting that food has been a challenge since these people started coming."
But Mozambican traditional leader Reymond Commando of the Mulili area said the refugees would only return if there was concrete proof of their safety.
He said they fled to Malawi to escape being killed and chased from their homes "like animals."
Plataforma Decide, a monitoring group in Mozambique, said in December that more than 200 people have been killed since post-election protests started in October.
