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
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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
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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
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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