History1 min read
2023 forced relocation to Dzaleka
Also known as Forced re-encampment 2023, 2023 relocation directive
A 2023 Malawi government campaign to enforce the encampment policy, ordering refugees living outside Dzaleka to return by April and forcibly relocating people from May, documented by Human Rights Watch.
The directive
On 27 March 2023, the Malawi government issued a directive to enforce its encampment policy, which requires refugees and asylum seekers to live in Dzaleka. The directive ordered those living in urban and rural areas elsewhere in the country to return to the camp by 15 April 2023 or face relocation. Human Rights Watch noted that Dzaleka was already severely overcrowded and unable to meet the food, health, water, shelter, and sanitation needs of its existing population.
Enforcement
From May 2023, authorities began detaining and relocating refugees and asylum seekers from across the country. According to Human Rights Watch, police and the military arrested men, women, and children in rural and urban districts, closed their businesses, held them temporarily in prisons, and then took them to Dzaleka. Some people arrested reported being beaten and having property destroyed or stolen.
Documentation and aftermath
Human Rights Watch documented the relocations through 2023 and covered them in its World Report 2024 chapter on Malawi. In December 2023, it reported that a rights group had been expelled from the camp. The relocations added to the overcrowding described in this encyclopedia’s entries on housing and population, and are part of the encampment policy covered under law and policy.
References
Sources
- 1Malawi: Refugees, Including Children, Forcibly Relocated
Human Rights Watch, 5 June 2023
- 2Malawi: Rights Group Expelled from Refugee Camp
Human Rights Watch, 22 December 2023
- 3World Report 2024: Malawi
Human Rights Watch, 2024
Related entries
History
Refugee law and encampment policy in Malawi
The legal and policy framework that shapes residence, movement, education, work, and administration for refugees and asylum-seekers living at Dzaleka.
History
History of Dzaleka
How Dzaleka developed from a camp opened in 1994 into Malawi's principal refugee settlement, including the consolidation of residents from Luwani and decades of population growth.
Infrastructure
Housing and overcrowding
Housing conditions in a settlement holding more than four times its planned population, where limited land affects shelter, drainage, sanitation, roads, and public space.
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Population and demography
A dated guide to population figures for Dzaleka and Malawi's refugee population, including countries of origin and why totals vary between reports.
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Dzaleka Refugee Camp
A long-established refugee settlement in Dowa District, Malawi, opened in 1994 and now home to a large, multilingual community from the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa.
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