BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Eswatini is still able to cope with the people who are forced to enter the country because of the civil unrest that is taking place in Mozambique.
However, the influx of Mozambicans and other nationals from the neighbouring country does not look like it will stop any time soon, according to Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo. Nxumalo said this during an interview with South Africa’s Newzroom Afrika, which wanted to know how Eswatini was coping with the influx, following the unrest, which was triggered by the result of the October 2024 presidential elections in Mozambique.
Nxumalo said for now, the country seemed to have the capacity, as that was seen when Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini convened a meeting to identify strategies to use to absorb the influx. During the meeting, a task team was set up to deal with the situation. Nxumalo also highlighted that during the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO) was given a task of registering the people who sought asylum in the country so that Government could not the capacity of people it had to deal with.
The registration, according to Nxumalo, also helps with the transfers of the refugees to Malindza Refugee Camp, where most of them are already staying. Nxumalo also highlighted that Eswatini had Ndzevane Refugee Camp, which used to house Mozambicans during the civil war in that country, which broke out in 1977 and lasted up to 1992. However, Nxumalo said that refugee camp had problems, which rendered it unfit for human occupation.
However, if the numbers of the people entering the country kept increasing, the task team would have to come up with ways to source funding to revamp the Ndzevane Camp so that it could be used by refugees who could get into the country because of the Mozambican situation. Nxumalo said Eswatini had strategic development partners which it could rely on to help, should the situation become more challenging.
The Government mouthpiece stated that it was not only Mozambicans who entered the country, but nationals from countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, and even Eritrea had been received by the country. Nxumalo believed that these people were resident in Mozambique, as foreigners in that country. Nxumalo was of the belief that after experiencing the unrest, these residents decided to leave Mozambique for their own safety and ended up getting into Eswatini.
Nxumalo was also thankful to the political leaders of the African continent for intervening in the Mozambican situation, stating that a lasting peaceful settlement was needed.
