President Daniel Chapo has announced that his administration is exploring plans to absorb returning citizens into ongoing national megaprojects and secure foreign employment quotas through international co-operation agreements, as Mozambique scrambles to manage a growing unemployment crisis fueled by forced repatriations.

The strategy comes in the wake of another devastating wave of xenophobic violence in neighboring South Africa. At least 283 Mozambican nationals were brutally assaulted, displaced by arson attacks, or had their properties vandalised during the recent unrest, forcing them to flee back across the border.

However, Mozambican political analyst, Gustavo Mavie warns that integrating hundreds of traumatised returnees into highly specialised sectors like liquefied natural gas or heavy minerals will be an uphill battle, given the severe skills mismatch facing the local workforce. He notes that without immediate, state-backed retraining initiatives and emergency financial relief, the government’s grand promises risk leaving these displaced families stranded in severe poverty.

–ChannelAfrica–