President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has backed government order to relocate all refugees, asylum seekers integrated into society to Dzaleka camp.

Speaking in an interview with CNN on Thursday night, Chakwera said that the exercise is not to victimise the said refugees but to make sure they follow order.

“What we are trying to do is not to suffocate them but to make-sure that the law and order is followed by these refugees,” said Chakwera.

The deadline to move to the camp was originally 28 April, but a temporary court injunction has provided a brief respite.

The camp, about 40km (30 miles) north of the capital, Lilongwe, has a capacity for up to 14,000 refugees but now houses nearly 50,000. Hundreds more are arriving each month, most of them coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo.