Malawi Government Called to Review Refugee Laws
Malawi commemorates World Refugee Day, calls for review of refugee laws.
Lilongwe, Malawi: As Malawi joined the international community in commemorating World Refugee Day on June 20, calls are growing for the government to review the country's laws surrounding refugees, writes Benson Kamonjola.
Innocent Magambi, CEO of Inua Advocacy, an organisation that advocates for the rights of refugees, said that the current laws are infringing on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
"What the government is doing is xenophobic in nature, people have been beaten, their property confiscated, while we ask the government to look at refugees as human rights," said Magambi.
Some reports indicate that the commemoration will not take place in Malawi, a fact that has been attributed to a lack of funds.
However, in a statement issued by the Minister of Homeland Security, Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma ahead of this year’s Refugee Day, the government said it is still committed to hosting refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
Malawi, as a signatory to the UN Convention, opens its borders to people seeking asylum and has been a home and hope for refugees for decades," said Ng’oma.
He has since expressed his sadness for some refugees and asylum seekers, whom he said are deliberately violating the country’s laws by choosing to reside outside the designated Dzaleka refugee camp.
Zikhale Ng’oma has therefore thanked the Department of Malawi Police, the Department of Immigration, and other relevant stakeholders for the effort they are rendering during the relocation excise.
Currently, about 1,955 refugees have so far returned to the Dzaleka refugee camp since the onset of the relocation excise being undertaken by the Ministry of Homeland Security.
World Refugee Day falls on June 20 every year, and this year the day is being commemorated under the theme "Hope away from Home".