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Mozambique: Guebuza Visits Returnees From South Africa
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
26 May 2008
Posted to the web 26 May 2008
Maputo
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza stressed on Monday that the response to the anti-foreigner riots in South Africa must be one of "unity and solidarity, but never of retaliation".
He was speaking at the end of a visit to the transit centre set up for Mozambicans fleeing from South Africa at Beluluane, some 30 kilometres west of Maputo.
Guebuza said that Mozambicans who have suffered at the hands of the mobs were in a very difficult situation. Apart from the deaths (at least 23 Mozambicans have been killed, according to the latest statistics), those who have fled have lost their property and many are severely traumatized by their experiences.
Guebuza described the ethnic cleansing in South Africa as the work of those who are opposed to regional integration, which ought to culminate in the full freedom of movement of people and goods throughout the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region.
"We shall continue on the path of solidarity and unity", he said, "but we must never opt for violence, since we know very well what is the price of violence".
Guebuza stressed that the Mozambican authorities are working tirelessly in coordination with their South African counterparts to find solutions that will halt the violence and allow a return to normality in bilateral relations.
Some of the returnees who spoke to Guebuza at the transit centre said they wanted to return to South Africa as soon as conditions allowed. But others had been so badly shaken that they have decided to stay in Mozambique permanently.
Guebuza assured his audience that, despite these riots, "the South African people are friends of Mozambique", and the crisis would pass.
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The number of returnees is growing by the day. On Sunday about 1,000 Mozambicans arrived by train at Ressano Garcia, the main border post. The total number of Mozambicans who have fled from South Africa is now put at over 22,000.
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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