52 refugees returned at KIA cleared

The 52 refugees and asylum-seekers whose trip to the United States (US) was aborted at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) last week have been cleared and will travel soon.

The refugees were returned to the camp by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on September 5 2023 following a directive by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services director general Charles Kalumo to halt their departure and give time for vetting their documents again.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) associate external relations and reporting officer, Gloria Nyang’iye said in a written response that the trip of the 52 refugees has now been cleared.

“Their cases are legitimate as they had all passed through pre-screening with the Resettlement Support Centre (RSC) and had been interviewed by US immigration officers.

“It was agreed that they would be assessed by the Immigration Department on Tuesday, September 12 2023. Thereafter, a green light will be given to IOM to reschedule their flight, hopefully in the course of the current week,” she said.

On September 11 2023, UNHCR representative Kouame Cyr Modeste and the IOM chief of mission Nomagugu Ncube met the Malawi Government to confirm the refugee status of the travellers and agreed on the way forward.

The incident occurred at a time when there are allegations of fraudsters collecting money from refugees and taking them to the airport, only to inform them that their trip has been cancelled as well as incidents of impersonating refugees scheduled for resettlement after pocketing money from imposters.

Nyang’iye assured that there are checks and balances in place to ensure that the rightful beneficiaries are being resettled.