MALAWI:REFUGEES AND OTHER FOREIGNERS NOT SAFE
MALAWI: Refugees in Malawi Ordered to Leave Urban Areas and Move to Camps by Government
From the 27th of March 2023, the minister in charge of refugees in the country of Malawi issued an announcement requesting refugees and other foreigners living in that country by the 15th of April they will all have gone to live in the camp. Refugees would normally find a way of life in the urban areas of MALAWI, according to the time that these refugees have been given, we have only one day left to live there in the urban and rural areas of that country.
Some of the refugees living in the country told INTAMBWE Newspaper that they are not safe at all, one of them said; This is the torture of these people who are working for us and they are taking away our humanity. The person who spoke to INTAMBWE newspaper continued to say that what is being done to them is living like a person who was told by the doctor that he has an illness that will kill him or a person who has been sentenced to death by the court is the one who is counting the days he has left. It is better to revise the Refugee Act of 1989 because it violates the rights of refugees.
What do the refugee representatives say?
In a short interview with the newspaper, the spokesperson of the refugee management committee in MALAWI, Mr. Bantubino Leopold, the newspaper asked if they know that there was one day left of the days announced by the minister for the refugees to go to the camp. Bantubino said: that’s the day he is missing according to the announcement so that all the refugees could return to the camp
When asked what they would do as the management of refugees, BANTUBINO, said: We have done everything we have to do, we have held talks with various institutions, we have shown them the problems in these decisions they wake up and take, but they do not listen to these people who have hatred, you do not know where they are coming from, and you show them the negative consequences of the decision they made. He replied that they should go and we would check it in the camp.
When asked about the message he would give to the refugees at this time, BANTUBINO said: What do you want me to say?
WHAT UNHCR SAYS?
Intambwe Newspaper contacted one of UNHCR officials about this issue and he responded that UNHCR has already shown its position that they don’t support how it is going to be done. There is no cooperation between us and the government on this issue because it violates human rights. We texted the Ministry in charge of Refugees in Malawi through his WhatsApp number but he read it and never responded to us. Most people that government doesn’t have the means to do this without the involvement of UNHCR.
Written by: Obed Ndahayo (Umwana w umutambyi)