Malawi govt risks classic suit from immigrants for ‘illegal detained’ in prison

A civil rights organization has warned government that it risks a classic law suit from immigrants whom the state continues to hold in prisons instead of deporting them.

Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance Victor Mhango said the government continues to hold 119 immigrants from Ethiopia in the country’s prisons.

“This is illegal. The immigrants, guilty on immigration laws are supposed to be in detention centres not prisons. The sad thing is that most of them, who were sent to prison, completed their prison terms long ago and yet the government continues to hold them in prisons. This is illegal detention,” he said.

He said 40 of the 119 immigrants are children yet they are still kept at Maula Prison in Lilongwe.

“They are in very pathetic conditions. The children are all malnourished. The government is just getting bad image for nothing, why not release and deport them? Very soon the government will get a law suit and the tax payer will pay for the government mistakes,” he said.

Mhango said in addition, keeping 119 prisoners is expensive, saying releasing them would cut on costs of running the prisons.

Immigration authorities said the government has no money to deport the 119 immigrants, saying the exercise would start as soon as money has been identified.