The Commission accuses government of violations of refugees’ human rights and laws but Ministry of Homeland Security has dismissed the findings
By Cathy Maulidi:
A Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) report says refugees who government has been relocating from communities to Dzaleka camp in the past few months received inhumane treatment from the authorities.
According to the findings of the report which MHRC made public Friday, government detained 117 children at Maula Prison, effectively violating their human rights as children.
MHRC’s Civil and Political Rights Officer Nancy Chiume presented the findings on behalf of the commission during a meeting with stakeholders on refugees’ rights in Lilongwe yesterday.
According to the report, 505 people suspected to be refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants were picked and detained at Maula Prison on May 17 and 18, 2023 where 202 were males, 89 were women and 117 were children.
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It further says the refugees who were taken to Dzaleka camp did not carry their belongings. As a result, they had no beddings, for example, a development which it says affected children by exposing them to the cold weather.
“Dzaleka refugee camp did not provide food and other basic amenities for the refugees. Government did not adequately prepare for the relocation of the refugees to Dzaleka camp.
“Government relied on three red cross tents that were donated upon hearing that government is relocating the refugees. There was no proper coordination between the Ministry of Homeland Security and stakeholders,” the report says.
In the findings, the MHRC also says that authorities used excessive force when relocating the refugees.
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“Police used excessive force in arresting the refugees. For instance in Area 25, six police officers went to arrest one refugee and they used excessive force and the male refugee was not even allowed to communicate with his family,” it says.
During its investigations, the MHRC alleges that authorities denied them entry into Maula Prison to interview the refugees.
In recommendations, the commission has called on relevant stakeholders to join forces to hold the government accountable for violation of refugees’ human rights and law.
Reacting to the report, spokesperson for Ministry of Homeland, Patrick Botha, described the findings as not true.
“MHRC may have missed the whole point because refugees and asylum seekers were being rounded up from different areas at the same time. We needed a mechanism to facilitate screening of their documentation by the Immigration and NRB [National Registration Bureau], hence the temporary stay at Maula not as prisoners but as a safe place where the screening could be done.
“No refugee was subjected to prison conditions. As a matter of fact government was buying food, water, sanitary supplies especially for women and babies. Even blankets. Women and children were being sent to Kachere but most couples refused to be separated and preferred to remain with their family at Maula until screening was done,” Botha said.
He added that the space at Maula where they were temporarily kept is what the ministry call alternative to detention.
In May, government commenced the relocation exercise, and to date about 1,900 refugees have been rounded up to the camp.
