Human Rights Watch urges Malawi to ‘reverse’ refugee relocation move

LILONGWE, Malawi

Human Rights Watch on Monday urged Malawi to “reverse” its move to forcibly relocate refugees and asylum seekers to camps.

"Malawian authorities must promptly reverse this action and respect everyone’s rights to freedom of movement, education, and a basic standard of living,” it said in a statement.

On May 26, the human rights group noted, Malawi’s homeland security ministry said that it had detained 902 refugees and asylum seekers since May 17.

“The roundups of refugees and asylum seekers, especially Rwandans and Burundians, follow a March 27 government directive to enforce its so-called encampment policy,” the statement said.

The government had ordered all refugees and asylum seekers living in urban and rural areas to voluntarily return to the Dzaleka refugee camp, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from the capital Lilongwe by April 15 or face enforced relocation.

It said 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.”

“Children should not be detained for immigration reasons, and should never be held in adult prisons, under international human rights standards,” the statement said, adding: “Many of the children had never been in the refugee camp. Overcrowded classes and poor conditions in the camp may cause them long-term harm.”

However, authorities in Malawi said the operation to relocate the refugees will continue.

Oliver Kumbambe, a senior official at the Homeland Security Ministry, told Anadolu that the operation is “justified” because there have been concerns that some migrants were involved in “illegal activities.”

“We have had reports that some are involved in cross-border crimes, human trafficking and smuggling as well as drug trafficking,” Kumbambe said.

He said the Malawi government was still committed to protect the refugees and asylum seekers, but at the designated place.

Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva asked Malawi to make appropriate provisions for a safe stay of all refugees and asylum seekers in the country, with US Ambassador David Young calling for a total halt of the operation.

Dzaleka Refugee Camp was originally established to accommodate up to 12,000 refugees but currently holds about 52,000.