MAPUTO, 12 April 2007 (IRIN) - MAPUTO, 12 April 2007 (IRIN) - Recent attacks on foreign refugees in Mozambique have led the local representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to call for action against xenophobia before it gains momentum.

In the city of Nampula, capital of the northeastern province of Nampula, a Burundian shop owner with official refugee status was attacked in late March by local Mozambicans who looted his store. They also damaged the bus he used in a transport business, claiming he was trafficking in children. Two other Burundian refugees in the area also reported being attacked.

"I want to put it in context: these were isolated incidents, but significant in the sense that if we don't end this properly - put an end to attacks with xenophobic intent in terms of bringing people to book - it could set a precedent," said Victoria Akyeampong, the UNHCR representative for Mozambique.

Last week, barber stalls operated by three Congolese refugees in Nampula were ransacked and one of the barbers was stabbed, according to AIM, the state-run news agency.

In Maputo, the capital, another Burundian shop owner with official refugee status was killed last year after unidentified people fired on his home. According to UNHCR, the man's store had been repeatedly looted prior to the incident.

Nampula police told UNHCR they had arrested 14 people for the attack on the Burundian shop owner, and that criminal charges were expected.

"Awareness building" was also needed to clamp down on "possible xenophobic tendencies that appear to be rising". "This also seems to be the case in South Africa, where urban refugees have been victimised in similar fashion," Akyeampong said.

Local opinion was mixed. Some suggest the attacks might stem from a misconception that the refugees living in Mozambique were somehow receiving extra benefits from the government or that local people might be jealous of their success.

According to UNHCR figures, about 7,500 people have official refugee status in Mozambique: 78 percent are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 14 percent from Burundi and 8 percent from Rwanda. Most fled wars in their home countries. About 5,000 of the refugees live in a single camp outside Nampula, maintained mainly by international aid groups.

Although conditions have generally improved in their home countries, few refugees have sought assistance to repatriate and, according to UNHCR, most are likely to remain in Mozambique for an indefinite period.

The prospect of prolonged assistance for these refugees has driven the need to help them become self-reliant but, in terms of government policy, the refugees are not permitted to settle elsewhere in Mozambique until they can prove their ability to sustain themselves.

"These attacks basically worked against the government policy that allows and encourages refugees to become self-reliant, and integrate locally," Akyeampong warned. "If I'm a refugee who becomes self-sufficient, and I'm attacked, what kind of encouragement does that give to the rest of the camp?"

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