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Over 400 illegal migrants detained

  • Malawi has 13 000 inmates

Over 400 illegal immigrants are detained at various prisons in the country while waiting to be deported by the Department of Immigration, which has put a strain on the resources of the Malawi Prisons Service (MPS), Weekend Nation has learnt.

The problem is growing by the day as people from Ethiopia and strife-torn DR Congo, Somalia and Sudan flood Malawi and Mozambique en route to South Africa for greener pastures.

Muluzi (C): We will repatriate them
Muluzi (C): We will repatriate them

Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Atupele Muluzi has confirmed the situation and has said government is in the process of repatriating some of the illegal immigrants.

“There are presently approximately 300 illegal migrants being held at Maula Prison from the Great Lakes region that have to be repatriated. This is part of our international obligations, but we are facing resource constraints,” Muluzi said.

Muluzi has said government has engaged various partners in discussions for assistance in the repatriation process.

International practices oblige the receiving country to bear the cost of repatriating illegal migrants, but in the case of most of the detainees in Malawi, they come from war-torn territories with barely functioning central governments which could reimburse Malawi’s costs of repatriation.

Malawi prisons experience a long-standing problem of congestion
Malawi prisons experience a long-standing problem of congestion

“Discussions are at an advanced stage and we have assurances that repatriation will take place soon and that this will also help reduce congestion at Maula Prison,” Muluzi said.

He said government is committed to abiding by international obligations as well as human rights commitments.

Said Muluzi: “Issues of migration are as complex as are the reasons why people move.  Malawi is fast becoming a transit route for illegal migration. This complexity means that we need to invest more in terms of financing and commitment towards border control management.”

He appealed for society’s assistance in curbing the illegal entry of people into Malawi.

“This is extremely important for State security and that is why government is in the process of constructing new border posts at Chisenga, Chimaliro, Mbalachanda, Mkanda and Mwase,” Muluzi said.

The immigrants’ situation has compounded the congestion in Malawi’s prisons, which are holding almost twice their recommended capacity.

“We have in custody approximately 13 000 inmates throughout the country versus a recommended holding capacity of around 7 000 prisoners.

“Some of those are illegal immigrants serving out their sentences or indeed being held at various facilities in the country. Most of our prison facilities were constructed in the last century. These factors coupled with delays in case clearance by courts have contributed to overcrowding in our prisons,” lamented Muluzi.

The development has worried the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) which has expressed concern about the abusive detention of immigrants in the country’s prisons.

MHRC has warned the country risks breaking international laws as imposing automatic detention on immigrants breaches such legislation.

MHRC executive secretary, Grace Malera, has appealed to the government to ensure it identifies funds to repatriate the illegal immigrants.

Malera said it is shameful for people who have committed no crime to be detained in harsh prison conditions for prolonged months.

She observed that keeping immigrants in prisons is placing a burden on MPS, which is already struggling to take care of inmates who have already exceeded the number of people a prison can hold.

Prison sources have said the problem is similar for Ntchisi, Chichiri and Dedza prisons where the number of illegal immigrants are being detained waiting to be repatriated.

The largest concentration of the detainees is at Maula Prison which holds about 300 illegal immigrants, Dedza has 65, Ntchisi 35 and Chichiri, seven.

The detainees at Chichiri Prison in Blantyre were each fined K20 000 or, in default, serve four months in jail. They failed to pay the fine.

According to some inmates at Maula Prison, who asked not to be named when Weekend Nation visited the institution on Sunday, there is no separation between convicts and the illegal immigrants, the longest of whom has been detained since February.

“There has been some deaths and diseases are spreading at an alarming rate due to congestion,” said one inmate who has been at Maula Prison since last year.

MPS spokesperson Evans Phiri could neither confirm nor deny the allegation as he said he was outside the office.

On the status of the illegal immigrants, Phiri said the Department of Immigration was better placed to comment on their status, as MPS only keeps people that have been committed by the court.

Immigration Department’s Central Region public relations officer, Elaack Banda, confirmed that most of the immigrants being held at Maula Prison are supposed to be repatriated to their countries of origin.

“It’s not deliberate to keep them in prison; it is because the Department of Immigration has no detention centres where they would have been kept. But we are doing everything to repatriate them as soon as possible,” Banda said.

A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) declined to comment because the matter falls outside their remit.

The majority of the illegal migrants are also coming from war-torn countries, which is sending fears that it could fan a rise in crime which is already worrisome.

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3 Comments

  1. why putting them in Prisons in the first place? Atupere you have been in Uk , Our president has been in USA as an immigrant…you know where they put those suspected to be illegals in the country…Bwanji wosapezela pokhala pena ngati ku Dowa mdzaleka ….then remove them quickly…Mufuna adwale chani? some of them are not criminals its just economical problem in their home country like malawian illegally based in SOZIBERE or RHODESIA..
    Please send them home than to put them in prison… i know what it means to be an illegal immigrant ..

  2. why putting them in Prisons in the first place? Atupere you have been in Uk , Our president has been in USA as an immigrant…you know where they put those suspected to be illegals in the country…Bwanji wosapezela pokhala pena ngati ku Dowa mdzaleka ….then remove them quickly…Mufuna adwale chani? some of them are not criminals its just economical problem in their home country like malawian illegally based in SOZIBERE or RHODESIA..
    Please send them home than to put them in prison… i know what it means to be an illegal immigrant ..

  3. There is much banging-on here about repatriating the “illegal immigrants”. How are they repatriated?

    Some other miscellaneous points:

    –> Have some of them claimed asylum, and if so has their case been looked at seriously, and appeals allowed, as per the law? After all, we have our own chancers claiming asylum in the UK, such as Angeline Mwafulirwa and Beatrice Botomani, and they are being given every assistance in making their claims there.

    –> How do you repatriate someone to Ethiopia or Somalia after you have stupidly imprisoned them for several months. Yes, they came into Malawi by way of Tanzania, but if you want to remove them after some months of imprisonment here then the Swahilis are not going to accept them at Karonga, saying that the migrants are not their problem. Do we have to fly them back to Ethiopia or Somalia at our expense, or do we beg the UNHCR to come to our rescue and remove them for us?

    –> “This is exteremly important for State security …” Bullshit! The migrants are on their way to RSA, and want to hang about here in one of the poorest countries in the World for the shortest time possible. We should just leave them alone and allow them to go their own way out of Malawi.

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