In Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, Dzaleka ironically means "I won't do it again."
This is the name of the country's refugee camp, where 56,000 people already live poorly, a number that will increase, since on February 1 the period granted by the Government expired for the 8,000 refugees residing in other parts of the country to return voluntarily.
From now on the authorities can take measures for the progressive relocation of these families.
The decision, the reasons for which have not been officially explained, surprises and worries humanitarian organizations, who do not see how Dzaleka will be able to safely take on several thousand additional people, and fills with fear refugees who have managed to build a life of dignity and now they must turn back.
A tear gas canister impacts the houses of the Dzaleka refugee camp, on November 22, 2022. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Andrew and Jimmy help a pregnant woman after a tear gas canister entered her home, during clashes between refugees and police on November 22, 2022. DIEGO MENJIBAR
A young man poses for a portrait, which he himself requested, after he was beaten by the man he worked for for demanding payment for his work. DIEGO MENJIBAR
In the Dzaleka market, the refugees run their businesses and try to make a living.
It takes place every Tuesday inside the field. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Adele Sabimana (behind, 40 years old) and Nizigama Spes (front, 46 years old), both from Burundi, returned to the field following the relocation directive.
Four years ago Sabimana left Dzaleka to start a new life in Lilongwe, the country's capital.
She lived there with her husband and her four children, where she ran a small business selling fruit until she was forced to leave: "We knew that we had to return to Dzaleka because the locals told us that we let's go
They threatened to take everything in our house if we didn't,” she says in a whisper.
Ella Sabimana considers that her life outside of her was much better because she had independence.
DIEGO MENJIBAR
A woman walks past a store where the owner sells fruits, vegetables and kitchen utensils. DIEGO MENJIBAR
A group of refugees from Dzaleka camp run to escape tear gas fired by police on November 22, 2022. Officers clashed with refugees as they looted some items from a warehouse after discovering their names were missing from a list distribution of construction material.
DIEGO MENJIBAR
A man tries to escape from the tear gas fired by the police, on November 22, 2022. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Hosea Kombe (father) and Mwamini Maombi (mother) at the entrance of their house in Dzaleka.
They arrived five years ago from the DRC.
DIEGO MENJIBAR
A girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country from which 56% of the population of the Dzaleka refugee camp comes, in the doorway of her home.
It is the only refugee camp in Malawi, and 56,000 people already live there, a number that will increase, since on February 1 the period granted by the Government expired for the 8,000 refugees residing in other parts of the country to return voluntarily.
From now on the authorities can take measures for the progressive relocation of these families.
DIEGO MENJIBAR
A man and his son, both from Burundi, inside their home in the Dzaleka refugee camp. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Suwavisi Ntakirutaimana works at a stall selling tomatoes, peppers, onions and celery in the Dzaleka refugee camp.
This woman receives, like most of the inhabitants of the camp, 7,000 MK per month (7 euros).
She is worried that the arrival of 8,000 people will affect her business because there will be more competition, since everyone will carry out similar activities. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Celestine Ngendakumana and her family of 13 pose for a photo at their home.
They arrived five years ago from Burundi.
They only have one toilet at home. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Most country houses are built with a mixture of mud, water and straw. DIEGO MENJIBAR
The progressive relocation decision, the reasons for which have not been officially explained, surprises and worries humanitarian organizations, who do not see how Dzaleka will be able to safely take on several thousand additional people, and fills with fear refugees who have managed to build a dignified life and now they must turn back. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Jimmy Nishimwe (left, 23 years old, Burundi) and Andrew Amisi (right, 32 years old, DRC) walk through the streets of Dzaleka.DIEGO MENJIBAR
Three children draw water from a well in Dzaleka.
Neighbors complain that there are not enough collection and access points. DIEGO MENJIBAR
Health care in Dzaleka is a problem due to lack of staff and funds.
With the worst cholera outbreak in the last 10 years underway and authorities unable to control it, the high risk of disease transmission is multiplying, with the arrival of 8,000 more people, in an environment with unsanitary conditions.DIEGO MENJIBAR
A woman holds her son in her arms after receiving the vaccine against wild polio, administered by Unicef teams. DIEGO MENJIBAR
In recent weeks, violent incidents have continued to be recorded, sometimes caused by a lack of resources.
In the image, several people observe the smoke from the tear gas that the police fired in Dzaleka on November 22. DIEGO MENJIBAR
A group of young people from the DRC and Burundi walk through the streets of the Dzaleka refugee camp, after confronting the police on November 22, 2022. DIEGO MENJIBAR
The Malawi government declared in 2021 that all refugees from other African countries had to return to the camp, but the decision was challenged in court by refugee organizations and managed to be frozen until August 2022, when a court ruled in favor. from the authorities, who gave several months for the relatives to return.
“It was shocking to hear that some officials were saying that refugees living outside the camp should sell their businesses and come back.
This is cruel,” says Peter Chisi, Director of Civil and Political Rights and Access to Information at the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC).
The authorities' decision on this relocation may be legal, but "the law is not a panacea when it comes to human rights," adds Habiba Osman, executive secretary of the MHRC.
You can't solve one problem by creating another.
Michael Kaiyatsa, Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation
What explains this order?
The hypotheses are various: national security linked to terrorism, human trafficking networks in neighboring countries, the threat that the economic activity of these people represents for Malawians or the desire to send the message beyond the borders that refugees are no longer welcome.
The 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees grants them the right to own property, pursue their professions or attend public school.
Malawi submitted nine reservations to this convention, mostly relating to freedom of movement, and officially these people who have sought refuge in the country would have to remain in the field, but these remarks existed only on paper.
At least until now.
“State xenophobia”
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which runs the camp, and other human rights bodies agree that relocating self-sufficient and productive people to the camp will be counterproductive for everyone, but the police have already begun to identify families in their homes.
“They are ordered to begin screening or identifying refugees living in their jurisdiction with immediate effect.
Include the exact location, the number of individuals per household, and the type of business (they are doing),” explained Casper Chalera, deputy police inspector general, in an internal statement addressed to all police units, stations, and posts in the country.
The law is not a panacea when it comes to human rights
Habiba Osman, Executive Secretary of the Malawi Human Rights Commission
Osman worries that the rights of refugees will be violated if the police carry out the relocation: “Profiling people in their homes can lead to state xenophobia,” he says.
Some refugee families have already returned to the camp in recent weeks, although exact figures are difficult to calculate as some return to their former homes and their return is not officially recorded, said Oliver Kumbambe, secretary for Homeland Security, who confirmed only the return of 35 people.
The local press has published that the number of returned families is somewhat higher.
This person in charge also admits "protests" from local merchants, fearful of the idea of sharing the local market with refugees and considers that the relocation is "very important" and the refugees will have "a place given by the Government to carry out their activities".
And that place is Dzaleka.
One of those who have returned is Adele Sabimana, a Burundian refugee who left Dzaleka four years ago to start a new life in Lilongwe, the country's capital.
She lived there with her husband and her four children, where she ran a small business selling fruit until she was forced to leave: "We knew that we had to return to Dzaleka because the locals told us that we let's go
They threatened to take everything in our house if we didn't,” she says in a whisper.
Adele believes that her life outside of her was much better because she had independence, but not everyone who returns shares the same opinion.
Miria, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who has also returned, admits that she feels safer in the camp because she is surrounded by members of her community:
“People discriminated against us and constantly reminded us that we were not from there, that we had to return to our country.
In the city I felt that I was not at peace”.
Her husband has stayed in Lilongwe, but he will have to return to the countryside if the government's relocation plans go ahead.
Dzaleka is far from being able to cope with the new arrivals.
The transfer of 8,000 people requires funds that the Government does not have.
First, money is needed to transport the refugees from where they are, and later, shelter, food and access to health care.
The World Food Program (WFP) has already warned that it is running out of food and only has enough resources to assist refugees until this month.
The inhabitants of the camp used to have access to food from the WFP, but since 2020 and due to a lack of funds, the aid was exchanged for a cash transfer of around seven euros per month.
Andrew Amisi, a 32-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), explains that this amount is not enough to eat: "In 2020, 50 kilograms of maize cost 6,500 Malawian kwachas (about 5.8 euros) and today they cost almost four times more.
The money we receive does not correspond to the increase in the price of food.
We are hungry, ”he complains.
Kenyi Emmanuel Lukajo, a UNHCR official, confirms that "funding has been greatly reduced compared to previous years."
“Providing basic services to newcomers and those already in the field is becoming a big challenge,” he explains.
He also clarifies that the families who have returned and those who will do so in the coming days will have to stay in the reception center for a long time because there are no funds or space to build shelters for them.
Rehabilitation of Luwani, another currently empty refugee camp, is still a long way off as UNHCR has yet to secure the funds to rehabilitate it.
“Right now, Luwani is not a refugee camp.
We need an alternative or a new field”, recognizes Kumbambe.
Cholera outbreak, poverty and violence
“In Dzaleka, water, sanitation and even food are in short supply.
You can't solve one problem by creating another,” says Michael Kaiyatsa, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation.
According to him, the current situation is not sustainable: “Some of those who are now returning have been gone for almost 30 years.
These people have established their businesses, worked, created families, and so on.
What will happen to their businesses or their property?” he wonders.
People discriminated against us and constantly reminded us that we were not from there, that we had to go back to our country.
In the city I felt that I was not at peace
Miria, refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The arrival of 8,000 more people in the already overcrowded camp also worries the inhabitants of Dzaleka.
Suwavisi Ntakirutaimana, a 36-year-old Rwandan vegetable vendor, is worried that the arrival of 8,000 people will affect her business because there will be more competition as everyone will be doing similar activities.
Lwitela Musa, a 52-year-old vegetable vendor from the DRC, does not hide her misgivings at the idea that "when more people arrive there will be more problems with illness, food, safety or housing."
Dzaleka is also not a safe place.
With the worst cholera outbreak in the last 10 years underway and authorities unable to control it, the high risk of disease transmission is multiplied in an environment with unsanitary conditions.
And cholera is not the only risk refugees face in the camp.
In recent weeks, there have been violent incidents, sometimes caused by a lack of resources, which worry those responsible.
Butoyi Fedeli, a Burundian community leader, was seriously injured after an explosion caused by a homemade explosive device on December 14.
A few weeks earlier, on November 22, police fired tear gas and clashed with refugees as they looted some items from a warehouse after discovering their names were missing from a distribution list for construction supplies.
Inside and outside of Dzaleka, the Congolese, Ethiopian,
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