Clashes between Mozambique Government forces and the opposition Mozambican National Resistance, or RENAMO, have forced an increasing number of people to flee Mozambique and seek asylum in Malawi over the last few weeks, the United Nations refugee agency cautioned today.
In the village of Kapise, Mwanza district, some 100 kilometres south of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, registration teams from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recorded the arrival of 1,297 people - two thirds of them women and children - with over 900 people awaiting registration. Another 400 new arrivals have been reported in 16 villages located further south in the district of Chikwawa.