UNHCR SURVEY REVEALS LOWER NUMBER OF REFUGEES IN

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000074 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/AFR MARY LANGE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2015 TAGS: PREF PHUM MI SUBJECT: UNHCR SURVEY REVEALS LOWER NUMBER OF REFUGEES IN MALAWI REF: A. 04 LILONGWE 889 ¶B. 04 LILONGWE 139 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) resident representative Michael Owor told CDA in a January 20 courtesy call that the recent verification of refugee populations in Malawi (reftel A) has been completed. The exercise, which was a pilot program, has apparently been successful in clarifying the number of refugees and implementation of the program in neighboring countries will enable better tracking of refugee movements throughout the region. END SUMMARY. COMINGS AND GOINGS NOW EASIER TO TRACK -------------- ¶2. (U) Owor reported that the exercise revealed a significantly lower number of refugees than previously thought, with a total population of about 7900. According to Owor, there are 6,126 refugees at Dzaleka camp, 928 at the Luwani camp, and 850 in urban areas. He said that similar verifications are now underway in other countries in the region, and that the establishment of a regional database is in progress. This will give UNHCR the ability to further track the movements of asylum seekers and refugees. ¶3. (U) New, sophisticated identification and ration cards have been issued to refugees in Malawi, and will continue to be issued as new arrivals come to the camp. The process of issuance takes three to six months, Owor said, and in the interim asylum seekers often move on to unknown locations, possibly seeking asylum and the related benefits elsewhere. Since all refugees will eventually be entered into a central database, the potential for duplicate registration is greatly decreased. ¶4. (U) Owor said that the recent violence in the DRC has spurred an increase in movement from that country, and 160 new refugees have arrived in Malawi from the DRC in the past few weeks. Contrary to previous reports (reftel B),Owor said that refugees are not returning to Rwanda. Previous efforts to convince refugees that it is safe to return to Rwanda were met with tempered enthusiasm, which has waned over the last few months. Owor said that a group of Rwandan refugees went to Rwanda to explore the possibility of returning permanently; when the group returned to Malawi, they were unable to provide a positive report and interest in repatriation decreased. Owor noted that recently, 14 refugees were repatriated to Rwanda; of those, seven have since returned to Malawi. COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The population figures are significantly lower than Owor's previous estimates, and are evidence of previous problems in the management of the refugee program in Malawi. The new system of registration, identification, and monitoring was sorely needed and will likely result in better integrity in the process. It is likely that this system, combined with initial registration supervised by GOM and the World Food Program in concert with UNHCR, will ensure more accurate refugee numbers in the future. GILMOUR