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- Read:\u00a0Cashgate: Malawi’s bigwigs feel the heat<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
More than half of Malawi\u2019s citizens live below the poverty line, and at least 2.3-million are estimated to suffer from food insecurity.<\/p>\n
More than 85% depend on subsistence agriculture, which was hit by extensive flooding in early 2014 and since then by drought.<\/p>\n
This in turn has affected the price of maize \u2013 a staple food for millions \u2013 which currently stands at about R400 for 50kg, compared with R260 at the same time last year.<\/p>\n
Fighting for the rights of immigrants<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
Wayne Ncube, an attorney who does strategic litigation work for Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, says that, in the past, most of those held at Lindela had been Zimbabweans, but Malawians were now in the majority.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been many arrests since May last year, and it\u2019s true that the number of Malawians affected has grown,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working on various issues relating to the welfare of the migrants. [And] we are working with the South African Human Rights Commission on investigating certain deaths that happened at Lindela,\u201d he says, declining to provide more details as the deaths are still under investigation.<\/p>\n
In May last year, in the wake of a nationwide outbreak of xenophobic violence, the government announced the launch of Operation Fiela.<\/p>\n
Touted as an anti-crime operation, it resulted in the repatriation to their home countries of 15\u00a0000 undocumented immigrants by September 2015, according to the minister in the presidency, Jeff Radebe.<\/p>\n
Home affairs department spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete says that 1\u00a0154 Malawians are currently being held at Lindela. Asked why the numbers of Malawians held there appear to have spiked, he said the authorities assumed that many illegal immigrants were in South Africa \u201cfor economic reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tshwete denies claims that some detainees were being held beyond the legal term because of slow progress in processing their cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe maximum time we can hold a person is 120 days, and no one stays longer than that,\u201d he says, adding: \u201cWe ensure that all persons detained for illegal migration are treated according to the highest human rights standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeking greener pastures<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
The repatriation process requires that the South African government provide transportation and security for the transfer of people to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n
Kaponda says that the cost of deporting Malawians was contributing to the slow deportation of some immigrants, especially those from countries that do not share a border with South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is easier to repatriate illegal migrants to countries with which South Africa shares physical borders. Air transport is expensive. It costs over R1.2-million just for 100 illegal migrants to reach Malawi.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says that until six months ago repatriations were done by aeroplane, but this had been stopped because of the worsening economic climate in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The practice now is to deport people using road transport, involving a minimum of four buses in convoy.<\/p>\n
Ben Kaluwa, a University of Malawi economist, confirms that tough economic conditions in the country has left people \u2013 particularly young people \u2013 with no option but \u201cto try to find greener pastures elsewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur government is failing to provide the right level of public services, including such basic necessities as education, medicine and food,\u201d he says, adding that the rapid growth of Malawi\u2019s population is also a factor, as the country\u2019s economy is failing to absorb new entrants to the labour market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could say that more than 50% of young people [in Malawi] are unemployed,\u201d he says, adding that the migrant labour system, in which many Malawians were lured to South Africa\u2019s mining industry in the past, has contributed to a mindset among Malawians that South Africa offers a solution to their financial woes.<\/p>\n
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