Movement across Mozambican borders increased 25% from April to May, in an upward trend since the beginning of the year, after months of restrictions imposed by the covid-19 pandemic, announced the Mozambican National Migration Service (SENAMI).
“136,848 travelers from different nationalities traversed the border crossing points, against 109,693 in April”, announced the spokesman for SENAMI, Celestino Matsinhe, quoted today by the Mozambican Information Agency (AIM).
The numbers are more than double the movement registered in the same period of 2020, when the pandemic was declared and when several restrictions on the movement of people and goods were put in place.
The border crossing point at Ressano Garcia, 100 kilometers from Maputo, on the border with South Africa, continues to be the one with the greatest migratory flow, with 75,681 travelers in May, followed by the Maputo International Airport with 12,205.
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In the same period, 118 applications for border visas were rejected at national border crossing points, as the applicants did not present a valid accommodation address.
May was the month with the lowest number of covid-19 cases and deaths in Mozambique since a peak of 274 deaths and more than 20,000 infections in February.
Although official figures have helped the country enter into a new phase of easing restrictions last week, health authorities have called attention towards preemptive measures in the face of a possible third wave of infections, with cases surging already in neighbouring South Africa.
