The number of refugees seeking asylum in Mozambique has fallen by 51% in the last six years, the director-general of the National Institute for Refugee Support, Cremildo Abreu, announced today.

The source, who was speaking in Maputo as part of World Refugee Day, which falls on Tuesday (20), said that Mozambique is no longer a country of choice for refugees or asylum seekers, as it was six years ago.

According to Abreu, the country currently has a total of 28,000 refugees and asylum seekers, of whom at least 7,000 are in Maratane, the only refugee camp in the country, located in Nampula province.

The source also pointed out that most of the people seeking refuge and safety in the country come from the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia.

For the official, the reduction in the number of people seeking refuge in Mozambique is the result of several reasons, including the increase in refugees asking to be repatriated.

"A large number of refugees from the Maratane center have voluntarily asked to return to their country of origin and we are responding to these requests in coordination with the UNHCR," said the source quoted by Lusa.

"With the reduction comes the need for the government to review the system used to take in refugees, as a way of bringing it up to date with the new reality," he continued.

Despite the reduction in numbers, the UNHCR representative in Mozambique, Samuel Chakwera, highlighted a "favorable protection environment" for refugees in Mozambique.

"Almost all refugees or asylum seekers have a document that identifies them and this allows them to move around freely," noted Samuel Chakwera.

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for many years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in neighboring Nampula province.