Read more
Hundreds of refugees, asylum-seekers arrested in Malawi
Most refugees and asylum-seekers in Malawi come from the conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Rwanda and Burundi.
FILE: The Dzaleka Refugee Camp hosts people from Mozambique, the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Ethiopia and there are also some refugees from Zambia and Zimbabwe. (Photo by Amos Gumulira / AFP)
Authorities in Malawi said on Thursday they had arrested more than 400 refugees and asylum-seekers in the capital who had refused to return to a camp outside the city.
The ministry of homeland security said 408 people, including more than 100 children, were held during a two-day operation that began with pre-dawn raids in several townships in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
The crackdown came about two months after the government issued an ultimatum for people to return to Dzaleka, an overcrowded camp about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the city.
ALSO READ: Technology prevents refugees from using SA online systems
“The period we had given them had expired,” ministry spokesman Patrick Botha told AFP.
“We have indicated that failure to relocate will call for the police… to enforce the relocation.”
Refugees from DRC, Rwanda and Burundi
Most refugees and asylum-seekers in Malawi come from the conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Rwanda and Burundi.
Those held are undergoing screening at a local prison to verify whether some might have been in the country illegally, Botha said.
Authorities have also accused some refugees and asylum-seekers of operating stores without authorisation.
ALSO READ: Deforestation imperils famed DR Congo reserve as refugees flood in
The leader of the Burundian community in Lilongwe, Bantubino Leopold, said he was “surprised” by the raids as the government had vowed to protect refugees.
“We have an agreement… that allows refugees who can stand on their own to run businesses in the country, so that they do not rely on handouts,” Leopold told AFP.
Malawi’s actions ‘appalling’
Malawi’s Human Rights Defenders Coalition said it was appalled by the government’s “heavy-handedness”.
The arrests represented an “egregious violation of international refugee law” and fostered “an environment of fear and uncertainty, causing immense harm to the mental and physical well-being of those affected,” the rights group said.
ALSO READ: South Sudan floods leave 75,000 refugees without food – UN
Malawi is home to almost 70,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, according to the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR.
Most live in Dzaleka, a camp set up in 1994 to accommodate about 12,000 people but currently hosting more than 56,000, according to the UNHCR.
