Malawi News add weight to ‘sinking Titanic’ claims
The Malawi News article lead article on Saturday and an editorial comment has attached weight to claims made on a Nyasa Times column ‘Loose Cannon’ which likened the current crisis in Malawi to the sinking of the Titanic.
In the Malawi News front page story about ‘Smugglers aiding migration to South Africa’ the flagship weekly reports that economic difficulties were forcing Malawian citizens to leave like passengers jumping from the sinking ship to save their lives.
More than half of Malawi population are living in poverty, with chronic unemployment and inflation.
The newspaper reported that there is an increase of economic migration amongst Malawians to the rainbow nation – an economic giant in the southern Afrian region.
According to the paper the desperation by Malawians to try their fortunes in South Africa has created a lucrative business for human smugglers who take them on a trip so dangerous and uncertain in outcome, while they pocket huge sums of money in return.
“In some cases, the money the travellers pay these smugglers is far more than what they would spend in processing a passport, pay for bus fare and travel comfortably,” the report said.
The paper said it investigated that while private trucks are popular with this smuggling business, some staff in international buses are also facilitating such illegal travel.
Both Malawian and South African authorities reported last week that up to 1,154 Malawian illegal immigrants are being held at Lindela, awaiting deportation.
And in the editorial comment, Malawi News titled: “It’s no brainer, poverty driving our people out.”
The editorial comment argues that impoverishment in Malawi is creating its citizens to be illegal immigrants in foreign lands as the country’s “future prospects are very slim.”
The paper says when a country like Malawi is “poor and has a corrupt and visionless leadership”, its young people simply migrate to foreign lands because they don’t see any prospects.
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