Durban, South Africa, Aug. 18, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique's President Daniel Chapo said on Tuesday that Mozambique's government wants to refer some of the victims of the recent episodes of xenophobic violence in South Africa to employment opportunities in Portugal and the United Arab Emirates.
At a press conference following the 46th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held in Durban, the Mozambican head of state explained that the government had registered and screened the repatriated citizens to identify their professional qualifications and facilitate their reintegration.
«We have another working agreement with the United Arab Emirates and also Portugal. We are working to ensure they can also go to these countries,» he said.
According to Daniel Chapo, many of the returnees possess professional qualifications, and the National Employment Institute is including them in a database, enabling it to refer them to public and private-sector projects in Mozambique.
Among the domestic opportunities, he highlighted the natural gas projects in the Rovuma Basin, in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, noting that the venture led by TotalEnergies currently employs around 9,000 workers, of whom approximately 7,000 are Mozambicans.
Incidents of violence against foreigners intensified in South Africa at the end of May, involving assaults, intimidation, looting, the setting of fire to homes and the forced expulsion of citizens from various African countries.
The president emphasised, however, that the government's initial priority was to ensure the protection and repatriation of citizens affected by the attacks against foreigners in South Africa, which have officially claimed the lives of 11 Mozambicans.
«When this wave of violence against our brothers and sisters in South Africa began, our focus was on saving lives,» he stressed.
He added that the majority of those who have returned are from the provinces of Gaza and Inhambane, in the south of the country, and that many Mozambicans legally employed in the mines and in South Africa's agricultural sector remain in their places of work.
During the SADC summit, the president expressed concern over the incidents of violence against foreigners in South Africa and called for respect for human dignity and the promotion of safe and orderly migration in the region.
«What we are seeing is that there is a tendency for some citizens to now try to regularise their documentation so that they can return legally to South Africa,» he said.
The minister reiterated that Mozambicans living abroad must respect the laws of their host countries, whilst at the same time condemning all forms of violence against migrants.
Mozambique's foreign minister announced last Wednesday that the country had received 599 nationals repatriated from South Africa last week, victims of xenophobic violence, and called for the issue of migration in the region to be discussed at the SADC summit.
With these 599, in addition to the 1,472 previously announced by Mozambique's government, Mozambique has now received 2,071 repatriated nationals due to the wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa, which has officially claimed the lives of 11 Mozambicans.
Mozambique has around 300,000 citizens residing in South Africa. The Presidency stated in a press release that thousands have already returned to the country due to the violence.
The 46th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government took place on 16–17 August following a series of technical and ministerial meetings that began earlier in the month, bringing together the leaders of the 16 member states to discuss regional integration, industrialisation, food security, infrastructure, and peace and security in the region.
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