Exposed: How Malawians risk everything to escape poverty in search for better life only to face exploitation and danger
It was supposed to be a gate away to economic freedom-despite the dangers and the cost of the trip, the prospects of living a good life in Europe after a brief stay in South Africa was worth the risk.
From the beginning of the journey, Emanuel Osman (name changed) realized that this was going to be a dangerous journey. The traffickers were tough and they showed all signs of being part of a syndicate controlled by very powerful people.
“In an ideal situation I could have just boarded a plane from ADDIS to Europe, but getting a passport is challenging in my country, hence looking at how my family was suffering I decided to make it to Europe through the southern Africa transit route which is preferred by many migrants because it goes through countries that are politically stable,” said Emanuel.
Like in a relay race, Emanuel recalls how together with 29 other migrants they were trafficked from one county to another-passed from one group of traffickers to another, until they finally reached Malawi where he decided he could not continue with the journey.
The arrest of former Malawian minister of homeland security Uladi Mussa on cases related to aiding illegal migrants obtain Malawi passports and the arrest of son to immediate past Malawian president Tadikira Mutharika (who was later acquitted) following the death of 30 suspected Ethiopian migrants are examples of how sophisticated the people smuggling syndicate is.
The migrants are not coerced or forced to use the southern route. Although it would be cheaper to use chartered routes, the migrants who despite having resources to travel by chartered routes prefer to take uncharted routes because of the challenges they face to acquire a travel document in their home countries and the immigration and visa regulations in their intended destination.
Emmanuel an Eritrean national who embarked on this adventurous journey in 2016 and decided to settle in Malawi after witnessing the death of fellow migrants in a fuel tanker recalls how he suffered on the long road trip.
“I have never suffered like the way I suffered on this long road trip, the thirty of us were bundled in a van that was under normal circumstances supposed to carry ten people,” he recalls..
The journeys are risky and dangerous, some migrants are abandoned on the way because they did not pay enough money for their journey, while others die on the way. Death in transit is a common occurrence for the illegal migrants who are mostly transported in the most dehumanizing conditions.
“We heard of stories of how some people die on the way and indeed we witnessed some of our colleagues die on the way, we also witnessed stranded migrants-possibly left by other traffickers. For those of us that survived, we were passed from different groups of transporters at the crossing of each border until we were finally caught by the authorities in Malawi,” said one of the 52 Ethiopian nationals who were caught by immigration authorities last March.
The individual recalled how some community members at the Malawi border – who were paid by the human traffickers helped them gain entry, this he said was the situation at all the borders they passed through.
“From one country to another we changed trucks, we were welcomed at each boarder entry by a team of other traffickers – the transporters were very organized such that we did not have a lot of challenges entering one country from another. We usually entered a country at night,” he said.
The death of 29 suspected Ethiopian nationals who were found in mass graves in northern Malawi was just a good reminder of the challenges that the migrants face in search of a better life. The migrants are believed to have suffocated as they were being trafficked to the Malawian capital Lilongwe, were found buried in a mass grave in a forest in Mzimba district, some 155 miles from the capital.
According to the United Nations, there were around 281 million international migrants in 2020 representing 3.6 percent of the global population. According to the IOM an average of 200 to 400 migrants and asylum seekers enter Malawi every month. Between January and September 2022 immigration authorities and the police in Malawi intercepted 221 migrants of which 186 were Ethiopians. The government of Malawi with its partners UNHCR and IOM are working towards addressing the situation.
“Malawi registers an average of 200 illegal enteries a month, which have recently been intercepted because of the good working relationships between immigration authorities, the police and local communities,” Pasqually Zulu, then national immigration public relations officer told Nyasa Times.
He said the good working relations between immigration authorities, the police and communities had resulted in the interception of around 221 migrants mostly from Ethiopia.
“It’s not only Ethiopian migrants that have been arrested for illegal entry into the country we have also arrested some from Asia, who we have successfully prosecuted and deported,” he said.
Under the Malawian laws illegal entry into the country attracts a fine of $71 or imprisonment for three months and later deported into the country of origin.
Migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Tiguary and a cross section of Burundi and Rwanda leaving their countries because of conflict, food insecurity, religious persecution, or economic failure have since the late 90s prefered Malawi as a transit route to Europe because the country has porous borders.
Nyasa Times interviewed with some of the migrants that were recently caught by Malawian immigration authorities indicate that the country has also been a favorite transit route because it is peaceful, and this coupled with high rate of corruption amongst security agents including some immigration officials makes it a favorite route for the migrants.
Paying in the in the range of US$2,500.00 to $3,000.00 to be trafficked to South Africa through Malawi, most of the migrants do not make it. Some die on the way, while others especially women who are coerced to travel under promises of good jobs in Europe, end up as sex slaves while in transit.
At Dzaleka refugee camp in Dowa district central Malawi, Nyasa Times met a woman who for the purposes of her safety we will call Samira. In an interview Samira told Nyasa Times that most of the women that engage in sex work at the camp do not do it on their own will.
“Incidents of sexual exploitation are common among the refugees at the camp, most of the victims are girls that were trafficked by trafficking syndicates, these girls have no choice but to accept the demands of their masters, I have once suffered the same ordeal,” said Samira.
According to The Borgen Project human trafficking at Dzaleka Refugee Camp takes many forms. Traffickers force men into hard labor while women and girls face sexual exploitation inside the camp sometimes being to the city or other countries in southern Africa.
According to inspector Yusuf Shaibu who at the time of the interview was Karonga immigration public relations officer before being moved to Mzimba district immigration office, the migrants at times enter the country through lake Malawi, but the authorities have been policing the lake and lake crossings have been reduced.
“Some times the migrants try to enter the country through the lake but because of regular lake patrols the lake crossings have been put under control,” said Shaibu.
However, he said there are some community members who because of the financial gains from the people smuggling business have been assisting the human trafficking syndicate, but because of regular sensitisation campaigns these people now understand the security risks of aiding the human trafficking syndicate.
“Immigration authorities are working with local authorities to sensitize communities on the dangers of aiding illegal entry of migrants into the country, however some quarters of our community due to greed and selfishness continue to support the people smuggling syndicate,” group village headman Mwakaboko of Karonga northern Malawi told The New Humanitarian.
Pearson Kilembe a community member at Songwe in Karonga told Nyasa Times that previously some community members used to aid the migrants to enter the country through the Songwe river and Lake Malawi but this has since stopped following the sensitisation campaigns.
“Of course I can’t rule out that some people are still aiding the human traffickers as explained by the interception of some of the migrants, but village immigration sub-committees have been monitoring the situation and community members who were supporting the syndicate have been reduced ,” said Kilembe.
Malawi Police Service public relations officer, Peter Kalaya says controlling illegal migration is challenging because the migrants are aided by members of the local communities.
“The challenging part in cracking the human trafficking syndicate is that the human traffickers are assisted by the local communities, there are some community members who are willing to support the syndicate for monetary gains the police and immigration authorities, we are working with local chiefs in boarder districts to sensitize their people on the dangers of human trafficking,” said Kalaya.
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