International Relations Committee of Parliament has recommended a temporary travel ban to South Africa as Malawi faces a potential K24.7 billion bill to repatriate thousands of citizens affected by anti-migrant attacks.
Presenting a report in Parliament yesterday, the committee said restricting travel to South Africa, except under special circumstances, would help reduce repeated repatriation costs, protect Malawians from xenophobic violence and give government time to establish safer migration pathways.
The report, adopted by the committee on July 8, shows that government had spent K787.6 million on transport, food, water and sanitation, coordination and shelter by June 17, while the estimated cost of bringing home 15 000 affected Malawians stood at K24.7 billion.
Committee vice-chairperson Frank Mwenifumbo said the number of Malawians seeking repatriation had risen sharply from an initial estimate of 300 in May to more than 10 000 by mid-June, with 6 239 people having been repatriated by June 20.
“We strongly recommend that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation should engage in broad consultations with relevant stakeholders to explore the possibility of effecting a temporary travel ban to South Africa, except in special circumstances,” he said.
The committee expressed concern that some Malawians continued travelling to South Africa despite the crisis, with others allegedly using government-funded repatriation arrangements to return home before going back to the rainbow nation.
Meanwhile, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs has told the committee that it was providing government-assisted transport, food, temporary shelter, medical screening, hygiene kits, trauma counselling and referral services to vulnerable returnees.
However, it cited several challenges, including foreign exchange shortages that were limiting government’s ability to contract South African bus operators because payments had to be made in kwacha despite operators requiring foreign currency to purchase fuel outside Malawi.
The commi ttee has since recommended that Treasury should allocate adequate resources for the exercise after scrutinising the proposed budget to ensure accountability and efficient use of public funds.
