More than 15,000 Mozambicans living in South Africa have returned to their country as they fleexenophobic attacks in South Africa and the numbers were expected to increase.
Maputo's main bus terminal, Junta, was a hive of activity on Saturday as taxis from South Africa ranked in with passengers.
The South African Press Association reported on Saturday that at least 15,300 Mozambicans living in South Africa had returned to the country voluntarily, some of them with the aid of government transport.
Twenty three Mozambicans are reported to have been killed in the South African xenophobic attacks which began on May 12.
When Jose Abilio, who said he had been living in South Africa for the past five years, alighted for a bus hired by the Mozambican government, he only had a plastic bag with two pairs of shirts.
"I left everything when the mobs came to attack our home in Alexandra and since then I have been living at a police station," he said.
Most of the returning immigrants did not appear to have many belongings with them.
The Mozambican government on Thursday declared the xenophobic attacks on its citizens living in South Africa a national disaster and reactivated the operations of the national center for emergency (CENOE).
CENOE was formed to deal with national disasters such as floods and cyclones which affect the country each year.
The national disaster management (INGC) and the Red Cross were on Saturday distributing water and medication to returning residents at the Ressano border post.
In Maputo, the South African embassy was heavily guarded as fears of attacks on its offices amounted.
A police officer guarding the embassy, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that officers had been deployed to the embassy to beef up private security personnel.
"There are fears that people will attack the buildings as a retaliation measure," said the officer.
Source: Xinhua
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