Parliament has recommended the Ministry of Homeland Security to proceed with its earlier decision of having all refugees and asylum seekers living illegally in the country to reintegrate to Dzaleka Refugee Camp en route to their respective countries.
Presenting a report of the International Relations Committee on its field visit to Dzaleka Refugee Camp to assess the status of Refugees in the country and measures being implemented to safeguard their health amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Committee`s vice Victoria Kingston said authorities need to control the movement of people freeing economic challenges.
According to Kingston, the Committee has observed that refuges living illegal in communities have caused competition over social and environmental resources and business opportunities.
She told the House: “The Committee noted with concern that most of the illegal refugees were mostly people who had migrated due to economic challenges and not necessarily instabilities in their respective countries.”
“The Committee therefore strongly recommends that the Government of Malawi, in conjunction with other implementing partners, should control the movement of people who migrate, freeing economic challenges in their countries in the name of refugees by tightening the refugee screening process.”
But reacting to the recommendation, legislator for Mulanje South West George Chaponda cautioned that authorities need to tread carefully on resettling, reintegrating and repatriating the refugees.
“Everybody can be a refugee because today everything is fine but somebody can certain things which will force you maybe to escape and go to somewhere so the way we treat the refugees we have to know that can also be victims of similar treatment.
“We to utilise the readily available resources for intended purposes by making those resources to improve the conditions of refugees in the country but also the people to integrate,” said Chaponda.
However, Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda said government cannot force the refugees to return back to their respective countries.
“We are encouraging the countries of origin to work with us and those refugees where their countries are safe now that they can return to their respective homes.
“We should encourage them to go back to their respective countries and we are working those respective countries that those that feel they can go now should do so and there are many that are willing,” said Chimwendo Banda.
At the time of the visit, the Committee discovered that Dzaleka Refugee Camp hosted 47, 000 refugees though it was initially designed to accommodate 12, 000 refugees.
