SYDNEY SAIZE IN CHIPINGE
A critical shortage of accommodation has hit the Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge as more refugees continue to join the camp, forcing dozens of refugees and migrants across Africa to sleep in makeshift shelters at the centre.
Government established the Tongogara Refugee Camp in the early 1980s to take care of refugees from neighbouring Mozambique which was encountering insurgency from the Renamo bandits.
The camp was set up to accommodate only 3000 people.
But the camp now has more than 15 000 refugees, which accounts to about 4 837 families.
The development was confirmed by the Tongogara Refugee Camp manager, Johannes Mhlanga.
He told Business Times that they were appealing to the government and other partners to assist in alleviating the problem as most families are squashed in tents.
“Yes, we now have challenges in accommodation. We have had more refugees than we can offer decent shelter. We have refugees from the DRC, who make the bulk of the asylum seekers at the camp followed by some Mozambique, Burundi, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast and Uganda.
“One other challenge at the Camp is that of wild animals that stray from the Save Valley Conservancy into the camp destroying crops.
“The stray animals have been a big challenge as some have rendered efforts for self-reliance in vain. We appeal to the Wildlife officials to ensure game is kept at bay,’’ Mhlanga said.
He said Covid-19 had not spared the camp as the centre has recorded a large number of infections owing to the increased population.
“We have not been spared by the coronavirus. Covid-19 is real. We have recorded a large number of cases of Covid-19 at the Camp. We are grateful to the Ministry of Health and Childcare who have stood by us during these trying times and we continue to engage them to curb infections,” Mhlanga said.
A refugee from the DRC, Murinda Musinguzi, told the Business Times that most families are staying in temporary shelters as a result of a shortage of houses.
“Some of the families are staying in tents and in this cold weather it is very hard for us with young children, and we would appreciate if more decent houses are constructed,” Musinguzi said.
Musinguzi said foreigners at the camp are anxious to have more land to till for self-sustenance and add up with what they receive from some relief agencies such as the World Food Programme, World Vision among others.
‘We call for more arable land to cultivate so that we may become self-reliant to a certain extent as some of us have large families,” Musinguzi said.
