Malawi: Int’l trafficking racket uncovered at refugee camp

By Agence de Presse Africaine Last updated Jun 13, 2022

APA-Lilongwe A probe by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and the Malawi Police Service has unearthed widespread exploitation of men, women and children at a refugee camp in the southern African country. Women and girls are exploited sexually inside Dzaleka, in other parts of Malawi or transported to other southern African countries for purposes…

APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) A probe by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Malawi Police Service has unearthed widespread exploitation of men, women and children at a refugee camp in the southern African country.

According to UNODC’s Maxwell Matewere, the exploitation is widespread at Dzaleka Refugee Camp, with over 90 victims of human trafficking identified and rescued since October 2020.

“I even witnessed a kind of Sunday market, where people come to buy children who were then exploited in situations of forced labour and prostitution,” Matewere said in a report released by the UN on Monday.

Women and girls are exploited sexually inside Dzaleka, in other parts of Malawi or transported to other southern African countries for purposes of sexual exploitation, the official said.

Male refugees are subjected to forced labour inside the camp or on farms in Malawi and other countries in the region.

Most of the victims rescued are men from Ethiopia, aged between 18 and 30. There are girls and women too, aged between 12 and 24 from Ethiopia, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the report.

Some of the victims were assisted to return to their countries of origin, while others are being cared for in safe houses. However, several victims requested to be returned to the camp to seek asylum.

According to Matewere, Dzaleka camp is being used by an international racket as a hub for the processing of victims of human trafficking.

The traffickers allegedly recruit victims in their home countries under false pretences and arrange for them to cross the border into Malawi where they are then exploited.

“There is evidence that victims are sourced in Ethiopia, DRC and Burundi by agents of the trafficking network offering work opportunities in South Africa – the economic powerhouse on the continent,” Matewere said.

At the camp, they are allegedly told they need to pay off the debts incurred while they are being smuggled into Malawi.

“They are exploited there or transported to other countries in the region for forced labour.”

So far there have been five suspected traffickers from Malawi, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda and DRC have been arrested.

Dzaleka is the largest refugee camp in Malawi, which was established in 1994 and is home to more than 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers from different countries.

JN/APA