During the early hours of Sunday 26 November 2023, a total of 77 Burundian citizens voluntarily repatriated to their homeland, marking the third cohort of individuals choosing to return.

The effort has been made by government through the  Ministry of Homeland Security, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to has repatriate refugees from Dzaleka Camp in Dowa.

In total, 224 people have undertaken this voluntary repatriation initiative from the country this year, with the initial group departing in July and the subsequent one in October.

n an interview on the sidelines of the repatriation, Senior Administrator in the Department of Refugees under Ministry of Homeland Security, Hilda Kausiwa described voluntary repatriation as one of the most durable solutions that government is enforcing now.

The 77, which is a third cohort of refugees to leave Malawi under voluntary repatriation initiative, left through Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) on Sunday at 2:25am.

Under the initiative, the refugees voluntarily apply to be repatriated.

In an interview on the sidelines of the repatriation, Senior Administrator in the Department of Refugees under Ministry of Homeland Security, Hilda Kausiwa described voluntary repatriation as one of the most durable solutions that government is enforcing now.

According to Kausiwa, Ministry of Homeland Security has pending applications from refugees from countries such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and once resources are available, they too would be repatriated.

One of the repatriated refugees, Niyera Evelyn who has stayed in Malawi for 14 years, was excited to go back to her original home and encouraged other refugees to take her path.

A total of 224 Burundi nationals have so far been repatriated.

On her part Evelyn Niyera, who has resided in the country for fifteen years, expressed her longstanding aspiration to return.