BY CHRISPINE SIBANDE
The art of oppressing the poor and the vulnerable.
Since the day Ministry of Homeland Security told the nation that all refugees in Malawi should return to Dzaleka Refugee Camp by 28th of April, 2021, no media institution or social media platform has done an analysis on the implication of this decision. It was important to discuss this matter as a nation as to what all this means.
One area of the discussion is comparable analysis on how refugees are treated in other countries in Africa and the rest of the world including Malawian refugees in some countries. Yes, we have Malawians who sought refuge in other countries claiming persecution back home on political matters and some cultural practices. How do other countries treat refugees? Do they allow them to do large and small businesses?
The bottom line is that most of the refugees we are targeting are doing small scale businesses and can be categorized as belonging to the group of the poor and the vulnerable. Then the issue of Section 20 of Malawian Constitution which prohibits discrimination in Malawi.
Looks like refugees in Malawi are being discriminated on the basis of their refugee status. Wasn’t it possible to give written permits to some refugees to be doing certain businesses that Malawians never do?
Why did we go for blanket ban of all refugees, preventing them all from doing any acceptable business outside the refugee camp?
I wish this matter went to court so that we Malawians settle this matter of refugees once and for all.
Looks like we have no clear policy on how treat refugees and things keep on changing from one government to another. But refugees are as human as all of us.
