Refugees denied external travels

Refugee-Led Organisation Network of Malawi (Relon) has pleaded with the government to resume issuing convention travel documents (CTDs)to enable refugees to travel abroad for education, medical attention or work, among other things.

Speaking in an interview, Relon deputy director Cecile Pango argued that the special travel documents allow refugees the freedom of movement and that without them, people with health problems and those who have been awarded opportunities to pursue higher education outside the country are suffering.

“CTDs were previously being issued in Malawi, but in 2017, some conditions were set for one to access them, such as sickness with doctors’ proof, scholarships or job opportunities with supporting documents and if one wanted to leave Malawi permanently and reunite with their family in their country of origin.

“But since 2023, all these conditions no longer apply; and we have people with health problems who cannot access the CTD to seek medical attention outside the country, and others with scholarships, but cannot go,” she said.

She highlighted the importance of the freedom of movement, adding that in other countries, the CTDs give refugees the freedom to move anywhere.

On his part a Congolese national Christian Mukendi living at Dzaleka Refugee Camp agreed with Pango that the non-issuance of CTDs has affected many refugees youths who despite receiving scholarships cannot go because they do not have the travel document.

Refugee advocate Innocent Magambi also said many students have received scholarships through MasterCard Foundation and other opportunities, but accessing the travel document is a huge problem.

 “Last month, World University Service of Canada [WUSC] announced the closure their programmes in Malawi due limited resources and the refugees’ difficulty to meet Canadian immigration requirements,” he said.

Efforts to get comments from the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services proved futile as they both did not respond to our questionnaires as we went to print yesterday.