are moved to the transit centre where they submit their asylum applications. The Department conducts quarterly training workshops for border officials and the principle of non-refoulement is emphasised. 135 In 2017, UNHCR in conjunction with the Government conducted training workshops in border districts of Mwanza, Karonga and Chitipa where 106 officials were trained; of which 43 were immigration officers and 31 police officers. The other 32 officers were drawn from the District Councils, the District Social Welfare Offices, the District Health Offices and the Refugees Department. 136 The Department also carries out border monitoring exercises to ensure that no persons of concern are being denied entry and that the human rights of the asylum seekers are protected. There have not been any cases of refoulement of asylum seekers/refugees in Malawi. 137 Since 1998, Malawi has received 36,852 asylum applications of which 12, 240 have been recognized as refugees, 1080 are finally rejected applicants and 7, 466 applications are being considered by the Refugee Committee. 20,014 are yet to be interviewed. All decisions are communicated to the applicants in writing. If an asylum seeker is not satisfied with the decision made by the Committee, the decision can be appealed to the Minister within 14 days of receipt of the decision. To reduce the backlog of asylum applications, the Department has employed an Accelerated Procedure to deal with Congolese and Burundian cases, considering the current humanitarian situation in both countries. The Department has also recruited an additional reviewer to review cases pending review. The Table below shows the number of refugees segregated by sex, age and country. 43