Malawi Police nab 5 Ethiopians for escaping deportation
Malawi Police Service has arrested five Ethiopian nationals who jumped from a cruising vehicle in a bid to escape removal from the country.
Nkhunga Police spokesperson Labani Makalani told Nyasa Times that the five were “among 102 Ethiopians” who were arrested for being illegal immigrants and were set for deportation.
He said they “are currently in Police custody at Nkhunga Police Station after they had jumped from a cruising vehicle belonging to the Immigration Department in an attempt to escape deportation.”
Malawi Police arrested the illegal immigrants and their ‘Fixers’ at Nkhotakota Police Road Block on Sunday en route to Lilongwe via the Lake shore road.
According to Police the immigrants were packed in a15 tonne Truck.
Nkhunga Police Station PRO Laban Makalani told Nyasa Times that the Immigration Department on Tuesday this week arranged a truck to transport them to Songwe border in Karonga District.
“The Truck left at 8pm accompanied by two armed Police Officers and an Immigration Officer. But since some of them were not happy to return home therefore they ended up jumping out whist the vehicle was in motion,” Makalani said.
According to Police, one is admitted at Nkhunga Health Centre where he is receiving treatment for severe head injuries and bruises while the other four sustained minor injuries and were treated as out patients.
Malawi, because of its porous borders, is mainly used as a transit point for economic refugees from the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa seeking greener pastures in South Africa.
They pay huge sums of money to middle-men who use uncharted routes from Tanzania through Malawi and Mozambique into South Africa.
It is estimated that Malawi is home to 279,000 illegal immigrants, according to deputy commissioner of police George Kainja.
Officials from the Immigration Department say close to 3,000 cases were recorded in 2011.
Ethiopians, Somalis, Burundians, Rwandese, Indians, Pakistanis and now Chinese nationals make up the majority of illegal immigrants found in Malawi.
