ReliefWeb

Total of 38,808 refugees and asylum-seekers are residing at Dzaleka Refugee Camp as of 30 April. A total of 278 new arrivals and newborn babies were registered in April 2019.

UNHCR assisted with shelter and relief items 10,000 persons affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai in Chikwawa, Nsanje and Phalombe districts.

In 2018 a total of 1,069 refugees were resettled from Malawi to Canada, Australia,
Finland, Sweden and USA. 2019 referral target is 1,250.

Main Activities

Protection

■ MHS is responsible for reception, refugee status determination (RSD) and camp management. Reception conditions and the risk of refoulement remain a concern.

■ Refugee Status Determination (RSD) backlogs have decreased in the past year with 13,677 people of concern (PoCs) recognised as refugees. More RSD determinations are pending endorsement by the Refugee Committee.

■ Congestion in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, initially designed to accommodate approximately 10,000 PoCs and it is currently home to 38,808 refugees and asylumseekers, remains a serious concern.

Education

■ A total of 5,678 refugees and asylum-seekers are enrolled in education programmes at various levels. Some 272 pre-school children represent an enrolment rate of 8.4 per cent of children between the ages three to five. A total of 4,211 children represent 40 per cent of the overall enrolment figure at the level of primary school while 567 students makes up 18 per cent enrolment at secondary school. Through the Naweza Girl Empowerment Initiative, seven girls are beneficiaries of the Naweza Secondary School Scholarship Programme and six more benefits from the Naweza Tertiary Scholarship Programmes. A total of 629 youth are enrolled in various post-secondary and higher education programmes (certificates, diploma & degree) provided by Jesuit Refugee Services and Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL).

■ In 2018, Malawi benefitted from the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Programme (DAFI) scholarships for the first time. Six refugee students are beneficiaries of the programme. The number of scholarships is expected to be increased in 2019.

■ In June 2017 the Connectivity for Refugees Project was opened in Dzaleka which was the first AppFactory through Microsoft’s 4Africa Initiative. Twenty-eight students have been enrolled in the second intake in September 2018 and the class will conclude in July 2019. The intake of the pioneer class had 21 students and ran between June 2017 and May 2018.