 Members of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM). Credit: ECM |
On March 27, the Malawian government issued a directive to enforce its encampment policy, requiring that all refugees and asylum seekers living in urban and rural areas in the country either voluntarily return to the Dzaleka refugee camp in just over a fortnight, or be forcibly relocated to the camp.
“Reports that children have been among those caught up in the sweeps and forcibly taken to Maula Central Prison, a maximum-security prison in Lilongwe, are of grave concern,” Reliefweb stated in a June 5 report that referenced Human Rights Watch, adding that under international human rights standards, “Children should not be detained for immigration reasons, and should never be held in adult prisons.”
According to Aljazeera, the Malawi military has been used to force the refugees back into the overcrowded camp that is located in the Dowa district, some 41 km away from the country’s capital city, Lilongwe.
In a Tuesday, October 3 statement, CCJP Coordinators at the national and Diocesan levels in Malawi say, “Refugees and asylum seekers in the country have not been treated with dignity in light of the refugee relocation exercise.”
The human rights of the refugees and asylum seekers have been violated by state agencies as well as the country's citizens while law enforcers keep watching, officials of the entity of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) further say, and add, “This is unacceptable!”
CCJP officials lament, “Conditions at Dzaleka Refugee Camp to where these voiceless people are being relocated are appalling; and the government's treatment of these helpless people in the relocation activity is quite inhumane.”
They call on the state to protect the refugees and asylum seekers, saying it is “a matter of law, moral obligation and solidarity in humanity.”
“Refugees are human beings who are entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms,” CCJP officials in Malawi say.
In August, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre called on Malawi’s government to halt the relocation exercise, saying it has been “tainted by acts of lawlessness within the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and certain party cadres, resulting in gross human rights violations. We demand an immediate stop to this state sponsored lawlessness.”
UNHCR has also criticized Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera-led government for the directive to enforce the encampment policy, saying the policy has “disastrous consequences on many refugees’ lives.”
This article was first published by ACI Africa
“Reports that children have been among those caught up in the sweeps and forcibly taken to Maula Central Prison, a maximum-security prison in Lilongwe, are of grave concern,” Reliefweb stated in a June 5 report that referenced Human Rights Watch, adding that under international human rights standards, “Children should not be detained for immigration reasons, and should never be held in adult prisons.”
According to Aljazeera, the Malawi military has been used to force the refugees back into the overcrowded camp that is located in the Dowa district, some 41 km away from the country’s capital city, Lilongwe.
In a Tuesday, October 3 statement, CCJP Coordinators at the national and Diocesan levels in Malawi say, “Refugees and asylum seekers in the country have not been treated with dignity in light of the refugee relocation exercise.”
The human rights of the refugees and asylum seekers have been violated by state agencies as well as the country's citizens while law enforcers keep watching, officials of the entity of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) further say, and add, “This is unacceptable!”
CCJP officials lament, “Conditions at Dzaleka Refugee Camp to where these voiceless people are being relocated are appalling; and the government's treatment of these helpless people in the relocation activity is quite inhumane.”
They call on the state to protect the refugees and asylum seekers, saying it is “a matter of law, moral obligation and solidarity in humanity.”
“Refugees are human beings who are entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms,” CCJP officials in Malawi say.
In August, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre called on Malawi’s government to halt the relocation exercise, saying it has been “tainted by acts of lawlessness within the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and certain party cadres, resulting in gross human rights violations. We demand an immediate stop to this state sponsored lawlessness.”
UNHCR has also criticized Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera-led government for the directive to enforce the encampment policy, saying the policy has “disastrous consequences on many refugees’ lives.”
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