Refugees protest outside UNHCR office.

Mozambican government representatives on Tuesday failed to persuade protesting refugees outside the UNHCR office in Maputo to return to their camp to await resolution of a dispute over conditions.

About 100 refugees mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been demonstrating outside the UNHCR office since Friday, complaining about conditions at the Babole refugee camp, 50 km from Maputo, and demanding to be resettled in the United States or Europe.

“We try our best to understand their needs because we are supposed to assist and protect them. We are also trying our best for them to understand our position, but at the moment I see them as very reluctant to engage in dialogue,” Arcilia Barreto, UNHCR’s Head of Mission in Mozambique told IRIN. “They just want us to close the camp and resettle them immediately outside Africa.”

Baretto said that UNHCR had been planning to end its presence in Mozambique this year, but an influx of refugees from the DRC “has put the closures on hold”. She added that while the refugee camps were not fully-fledged settlements with facilities such as dispensaries, “we are giving emergency assistance” to the 400 refugees in Babole. Baretto said her office was also trying to meet their demands for university scholarships.

Government officials from the ministry of the interior and foreign affairs met the refugees camped outside the UNHCR office on Tuesday morning, but they failed to persuade them to “be reasonable” and return to Babole, Baretto said. “They don’t want to listen,” she added, and suggested the government may be ready to “take more persuasive action.”

There are approximately 1,500 registered refugees in Mozambique, mostly from the conflict in the DRC.