Following the announcement by police of their intention to publicly open the confiscated containers which belong to refugees, the owners have said they will not go to Area 30 on Monday to claim them because they suspect that the containers might have been tampered with.
They also said they fear it may be a trap by the police to arrest them.
They have since surrendered the containers.
On August 28, 2023, the Ministry of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Malawi Police Service, is expected to open and search the 125 containers that were confiscated during the relocation exercise of refugees to Dzaleka Camp in Dowa District.
But speaking with Malawi News, Abrielle Himiwana, owner of some of the containers who is currently at Dzaleka Refugee Camp, said their concerns relate to the fact that the containers were confiscated three months ago and that some of the people who owned the containers were deported, so they are not going to be present to witness the opening of the containers.
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“We have agreed not to go to claim our containers; let police and homeland security [officials] do whatever they want with them; we are people who don’t have a voice,” Himiwana said.
One of the refugees, Nshimiye Benjamin, who claimed to have stayed in Malawi since she was three years old said their family containers contained soyabeans and ground nuts, which her parents, who were deported last month, had been stocking for their business.
“For so many years we have been doing business in Mgona. The city council used to come to collect tax, and we were complying.
“I have given up; I am afraid to go and claim the containers. Let the police do whatever they want,” Benjamin said.
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Meanwhile, advocacy and liaison officers with Inua, a civil society organization, the CSO platform on refugees, Matchona Phiri, has told Malawi News that they will be seeking for the court to intervene.
“We are going to court to stop the process because a number of refugees who owned the containers fear that the premises where the exercises are expected to take place are not conducive for the refugees to be present,” he said.
He further said their concerns are also that if they walk into Area 30 to claim the containers, they might be arrested regardless of whether they committed crimes or not.
He said there are so many gaps in the way the police are handling the situation.
But the Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma has said it plans to put on auction the containers that were confiscated during the relocation exercise should the owners fail to avail themselves and bring relevant documents permitting them to do business in the country.
“The containers will be auctioned if the owners do not come on the set date,” Ng’oma said.
He further stated that the money realized from the auction of the containers will go back to the government account, where it will be used for development activities.
He insisted that the containers have not been tampered with, saying that everything with regards to the containers is still intact.
He has also emphasized that the exercise to open and search the containers has been arranged in the spirit of transparency and accountability.
“All containers have remained locked since. The crimes suspected to have been committed include illegal possession of firearms, foreign currency and machines for printing out fake currency, and illegal purchase of minerals and farm produce, to mention a few,” Ng’oma said.
Some of the areas where the containers were confiscated include Mgona and Chinsapo in Lilongwe.
