11/30/2012 15:28 GMT
BLANTYRE, Malawi, Nov 30, 2012 (AFP) - Malawian President Joyce Banda on Friday hinted that her country, which hosts an estimated 14,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa, may close its main refugee centre in a bid to stem illegal entries.
"It's high time we discussed the future of the Dzaleka Refugee Camp," Banda was quoted on state radio as saying. "Maybe we should just close it and let us find something to do with that place."
The camp is 45 kilometres (70 from the administrative capital Lilongwe and is supervised by the government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The refugees come from Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, DR Congo, Burundi and Rwanda.
There has been a good deal of local animosity about the camp.
Many of those who live there run successful retail businesses, which compete against those run by locals.
Banda said some of the refugees and asylum seekers are not "genuine as some of them are involved in violent crimes.
"How can you continue being a refugee when war in your country ended some ten years ago?" she said.
"In some countries they have put a deadline on when refugees should leave. We must do the same."
She asked the country's police, immigration and her president's office to hold a national conference to look into the matter.
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