The political instability and violence in Mozambique during the 1970s up to the 1990s, provoked an unprecedented movement of Mozambicans, both within the country itself as well as across its borders to neighboring countries throughout southern Africa. Some 4.7 million people were displaced internally while 1.7 million others sought asylum in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Swaziland, and South Africa. Mario Azevedo, a former refugee, now a historian and public health expert, offers a comprehensive account of the conditions under which Mozambican refugees lived.
Most of the world outside Africa remained relatively unaware of the plight of Mozambican refugees. The Western media, in their reports on the situation, focused on the destruction of Mozambique's infrastructure rather than the specific experiences and sufferings of Mozambican refugees. When major humanitarian organizations at last turned their attention to Mozambique, the author argues that action on behalf of the refugees was swift and effective. Refugees themselves played critical roles in transforming a tragic situation into a triumphant one. In this book, Mario J. Azevedo rescues refugees from the enormous condescension of the past.