39 Malawians Return Home After Alleged Trafficking to Mozambique
"We were taken ... on the assumption that we were going to Mchinji but we ended up being in Mozambique," said Adams Levison of Lombwa village, Traditional Authority Kabudula.
MCHINJI, Malawi— Thirty-nine Malawians, including 18 children, have returned home after they say they were trafficked to Mozambique by a Malawian national in August 2023, writes Moses Chilumpha.
The group, from Kasiya in Lilongwe and Dowa districts, allege they were lured to Mozambique under the false pretense of working on a tobacco farm.
"We were taken ... on the assumption that we were going to Mchinji but we ended up being in Mozambique where we were told [we] will be farming tobacco on Mr. Mandindi's farm," said Adams Levison of Lombwa village, Traditional Authority Kabudula.
Levison said the group was abandoned by their employer in February 2024 without pay or transportation home.
"This month we were just told to go home and when we asked about transport he said can't help us anymore," Levison said.
"This was happening when the tobacco stand in the field was perfect and the other reaped leaf was in the shed."
The District Social Welfare Officer for Mchinji district, Joyce Malika, said human trafficking is a major issue in the area, with poverty, unemployment, and family breakdown being cited as contributing factors.
Malika also outlined challenges faced by the district in dealing with human trafficking, including inadequate resources to support victims and a lack of a safe house to lodge them.