Luwani Refugee Camp in Malawi closes as UNHCR moves last residents

LUWANI REFUGEE CAMP, Malawi, 26 October (UNHCR) – One of Malawi's two refugee camps officially closed on Thursday as a 32-vehicle UNHCR convoy pulled out soon after dawn with the last 660 refugees and asylum seekers, heading north to the country's remaining refugee camp.

"As of today, Luwani Refugee Camp is officially closed. We have the last of the residents on the trucks and have taken all of the UNHCR assets," said Kelvin Sentala, a UNHCR protection field assistant based in the capital, Lilongwe, who was in charge of the convoy.

The convoy – 16 trucks of luggage, nine with refugees and asylum seekers, an ambulance, a bus with 27 vulnerable individuals, two pickup trucks and two UNHCR escorting vehicles – was timed to arrive in Dzaleka camp just before dark. The relocated refugees and asylum seekers will live in tents while building their new homes with material provided by UNHCR.

UNHCR provides food on the night of arrival, but the next morning refugees and asylum seekers were expected to use their own food, which was moved along with all their other belongings. The convoy on Thursday included the refugees' 120 goats, 45 pigs and 160 chickens.

The final movement to Dzaleka Refugee Camp, just north of the capital, brings to some 3,,000 the number of refugees and asylum seekers who have been moved since the government decided last April to close Luwani. Dzaleka held more than 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers before the decision, so extra facilities are being added for the new total of more than 8,000 residents.

The closing of the camp, ordered by the government on what it termed security grounds, has both positive and negative aspects. The consolidation of the population into one site near the capital will make UNHCR's provision of services easier. However, there will be no land available for agriculture at Dzaleka – unlike Luwani where an irrigation project still under development could have made some refugees self-sufficient.

"The Government of Malawi – in keeping with its reservations to the 1951 Convention regarding freedom of movement, work rights and naturalization – is not allowing refugees to locally integrate," said Henry Domzalski, UNHCR's acting Representative in Malawi. "Dzaleka therefore remains a place where care and maintenance – food, shelter, health services, etc. – could well continue indefinitely, if the refugees do not voluntarily repatriate or are not resettled."

The closure of the camp – and a reception centre near the border with Tanzania in the north – came after increasing frustration by the government at the number of young men, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia, who applied for asylum on arrival but then disappeared. They were thought to be heading toward South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse, and many were caught illegally leaving across Malawi's southern border.

The problem of distinguishing economic migrants heading to South Africa for work, and refugees fleeing persecution in their own countries, was underlined by the final movement from Luwani.

"We were supposed to transport 810 people to Dzaleka today but 127 people had disappeared. They were all asylum seekers from Somalia and Ethiopia," said Sentala. "This is the reason the Government decided to close Luwani. They were abusing the asylum system."

The April decision to close Luwani necessitated a quick expansion of the facilities in Dzaleka, which are not yet complete. The school in Dzaleka, which had achieved the best results in the district, will temporarily have to hold some classes in tents.

The buildings in Luwani were handed over to the Government, completing another cycle in the history of the rural location. It was used to house refugees fleeing the civil war in Mozambique, closed after they returned and then reopened by the Government for the influx of refugees from the Great Lakes area in recent years.

UNHCR recorded 9,188 refugees and asylum seekers in Malawi at the end of last March, including 1,389 who were living in urban areas. Of those in the two camps at the time, 3,300 were from Rwanda, 1,807 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 1,553 from Burundi.

With Malawi currently not permitting the local integration of refugees, UNHCR has looked for other solutions. Few have wanted to go home and for those who can neither repatriate nor locally integrate, UNHCR has aided resettlement to third countries. In 2006, some 500 refugees were resettled to Australia, Canada, Norway, and Sweden. So far in 2007 44 people have been resettled in Australia.

Henderson Supporters Protest in Lake Malawi

Supporters of London vicar Nicholas Henderson disrupted a meeting of the diocese of Lake Malawi last week, protesting plans by the church leaders to hold new elections for a bishop.

On Oct 20 clergy and lay leaders of the diocese met with the Dean of the Province, Bishop Albert Chama, Provincial Secretary Fr. Eston Pembamayo and the diocese’s vicar-general Canon Bright Mkoko to lay out plans for new elections in light of the decision last month by the Province’s House of Bishops to deny any further appeal of the rejection of Mr. Henderson’s election as bishop.

Members of a group styled the “House of Laity” disrupted the meeting, objecting to plans to go forward with new elections. It said “Bishop Chama’s agenda for the meeting was to dictate to us to hold fresh elections which did not go down well” with its members. As “Bishop Chama was in no compromising mood” the group “decided to close the offices and confiscate the keys of the three diocesan vehicles” to show that “we are serious.”

Lake Malawi has been without a bishop for two years. Factional disputes have led to violence at times, and allegations exchanged of murder and corrupt practices. A church official familiar with the situation told CEN the situation remained tense, but expected the new election would move the diocese forward.

Malawi power chief faces graft charges

The chief executive of Malawi's power generating company appeared in court on Thursday to face charges that he steered contracts towards a business associate. Kandi Padambo, the boss of the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (ESCOM), denied all five charges that were read out in front of a packed courtroom in Blantyre before he was granted bail.

As well as allegedly using his influence to ensure contracts were awarded to companies owned by one of his associates, Padambo is also accused of misusing his public office, with two counts of failing to disclose his interests while chairing an internal procurement committee.

Zimbabwe refugees are returned home despite asylum policy

Refugees fleeing to Britain from Zimbabwe, one of the world's most despotic regimes, are ending up back there because of a loophole in the asylum system.

The Home Office has a policy of not returning asylum-seekers directly to Zimbabwe, but investigations show some of those refused a safe haven in the UK end up there after initially being sent to Malawi.

The situation has emerged because many opponents of Robert Mugabe's regime have acquired Malawian passports as a way to facilitate a swift exit from Zimbabwe. Many are so desperate that they obtain the travel documents fraudulently.

So those rejected by Britain find themselves on the wrong side of the law when returned to Malawi. And for them the long road to freedom simply leads back to the country they were fleeing.

Maude Lennard is so desperate to avoid being sent back to Zimbabwe that she has spent 44 days on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood detention centre. Her flight to Malawi is due to leave tonight, but she says she will not stop fighting to stay.

The 36-year-old, who was brutally tortured and gang raped for her work as an activist for the MDC, the opposition party, paid to get a Malawian passport so she could escape quickly. She fears that being sent to Malawi will be tantamount to a death sentence. "The moment I get there the Malawian government will just send me to the Zimbabwean authorities," she said.

Since 2004 the Home Office has sent at least 11 Zimbabwean asylum-seekers to Malawi. Of those at least five ended up back in Zimbabwe. Also claiming to be in danger is 37-year-old Faina Pondesa, who has been on hunger strike for the same length of time. She was due to be removed to Malawi on Tuesday night. Her passage was cancelled after the pilot deemed her too ill and malnourished to fly.

Amnesty International says that "people fleeing persecution often resort to using forged documents as they are unable to approach their authorities in order to obtain valid travel documents". But these tools of escape are now being used to send asylum-seekers to danger and a place they have never known.

Patson Muzuwa, chair of the Zimbabwe Association – a campaign group based in the UK, said: "The British government are just trying to meet their targets on migrants. Malawian passports obtained over the age of 22 will be seen as fraudulent documents when they are returned to Malawi, as you cannot take up citizenship after that age. So when they arrive they are sent to prison. Because of these fraudulent documents, the fate that awaits those Zimbabweans sent back to Malawi is simply another deportation to Zimbabwe."

"These people are activists, if [Maude Lennard] is sent to Zimbabwe the government will have a big party. They will say 'this woman is dead'. She is in grave danger: it is just death that is waiting for her. The people at the Malawian embassy take so many bribes; it's not right that these Zimbabweans should be sent to Malawi."

Among those who have already been returned is the anti-Mugabe activist Francis Asima. After being captured and tortured in Zimbabwe, he escaped and travelled to the United Kingdom on a Malawian passport for which he had paid a bribe at the Malawian embassy in Harare.

On arrival in Britain the 24-year-old explained that he was a Zimbabwean, showing his Zimbabwean ID card, as well as his MDC party membership card and a letter from the MDC secretary general. But throughout his hearing and appeal the Home Office maintained that he was Malawian, because of his passport. This is despite the fact that his brother, also an activist, was granted asylum in Britain as a Zimbabwean.

After resisting removal on several occasions, he was finally taken to Malawi in November 2006. Once in Malawi he was arrested for the false declaration of a Malawi passport, and after two months in prison he was deported to Zimbabwe. Since arriving in Zimbabwe he has already been tracked down by the government, and narrowly escaped arrest. The last anyone heard from him was that he had gone into hiding.

Undule Mwakasangula, director of the Centre of Human Rights in Malawi, has worked closely with Zimbabweans who have been sent to his country from the UK. He said: "Malawi does not want to keep these people, so they are sent back to Zimbabwe. It's not speculation, it's happening."

David Banks, co-ordinator of the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe, said that the root of the problems lay in the Home Office being target-driven. "Zimbabweans now fleeing to the UK to escape the persecution and tyranny of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe often feel that they are treated as criminals. They hope for freedom and understanding in the UK but find themselves at the mercy of Home Office officials who have little understanding of their plight and who seem to be motivated primarily by meeting targets for refusal and removal of asylum-seekers."

Malawi roads body invites bids for three major projects

The Malawi Roads Authority (MRA) is invit- ing proposals from eligible consulting firms interested in providing consultancy services for the detailed engineering design and construction supervision of three major roads projects in the Southern African country.

The projects are the upgrading of the Ekwe-ndeni'Ezondeni road, in the northern region; the Lilongwe Old Airport'Kasiya road, in the central region; and the Nguludi'PIM'Chiradzulu'Miseu Folo'Chiringa road, in the southern region.

MRA CEO Maxwell Kachiwala says that interested consulting firms should obtain request-for-proposal documents from the authority's offices and submit them before November 9.

The roads projects are part of the country's multimillion-dollar transport and communications infrastructure development programme, which the government is financing in conjunction with a pool of donors, including the World Bank, the European Union, the African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea), the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the Republic of China.

Other road projects that the government is preparing to carry out as part of the programme include the construction of the $90-million Jenda'Edingeni'Rumphi road, in the northern region; the rehabilitation of the Thyolo'Makwasa'Muona'Makhanga road, in the southern region, at a cost of $46,5-million; the rehabilitation of the Bangula'Nsanje'Marka road and the Biriwiri'Tsangano'Neno road, both of which are in the southern region, at a cost of $40-million and $39-million respectively.

Roads projects that are currently being implemented include the construction of the Zomba'Jali'Phalombe road, in the southern region, at a cost of $59-million. This project, which is being undertaken by Portuguese contractor Mota Engil and is scheduled for completion in 2008, is being funded by the government, Badea, Opec, and the Kuwaiti Fund for International Development.

Mota Engil is also building the $25-million Chiradzulu'Phalombe'Chilinga road, in the southern region, which is solely financed by the Malawi government, and Mota Engil is also doing the construction work.

Two local fundraisers planned for Operation Outreach Malawi

Staff at Boardwalk Dental in downtown Brockville will devote their annual Charity Day on Friday to Youth Unlimited's Operation Outreach Malawi, donating all the proceeds from the day's work to a plan to build an irrigation system in the village of Hanoke, Malawi, said Youth Unlimited administrator Joan Childs.

As part of the dentistry practice's charity day, staff will work for free, said Childs, adding coffee and baked goods will be sold beginning at 9 a.m., while a barbecue will start at 10 a.m.

People will also be able to buy artifacts from Malawi, including paintings and woodworking, as well as fresh roasted coffee, said Childs.

Meanwhile, on Friday night, the Keystorm Pub will host another Operation Outreach Malawi fundraiser, a "Night of Comedy and Music" featuring comedian Terry V. Hart and the band Shiver Me Timbers.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $25.

As part of the humanitarian organization's latest aid effort in the poverty-stricken African country, five area residents will be heading to Hanoke on a mission next month.

They are city Councillor Larry Journal, Randy Shearer, Amber Woods, Childs and Pastor Kevin Smith.

The group is hoping to raise $10,000.

Hanoke, a small village some 25 miles from the Malawian capital Lilongwe, is home to about 400 People, half of them children, including 31 orphans. Hanoke receives no support from any other group or organization.

# Published in Section b, page 7 in the Thursday, October 25, 2007 edition of the Brockville Recorder & Times.
# Posted 5:01:46 PM Thursday, October 25, 2007.

Local couple offers hope for Malawi's poorest

The Kasimu Grammar School in Manyesa, Malawi is receiving a helping hand that extends from thousands of miles away -- from Mountain View, California, in fact.

Former Mountain View fire chief Robert Burns and his wife Mary are dedicating their resources to making sure children at the impoverished school are receiving free lunches, new workbooks and more opportunities to further their education.

The effort is run through the Kasimu Education Fund, or KEF, which the couple started in the belief that education is the answer to endemic problems in places like Malawi.

"We believe that education will fight the disease and poverty," Mary said, "Children will go to school and become educated and in turn they will help their village. ... They need the tools to improve their lifestyle."

The Burns' mission began in winter 2006, when they attended a benefit at St. Jerome's church in El Cerrito. Peter Mulomule, a Berkeley graduate student of theology who had organized the event, spoke to the audience describing the poor conditions of his alma mater, the Kasimu Grammar School. A generous scholarship from a French family had enabled him to continue his education, but most children in the school have little hope of such an opportunity.

"When we heard the story we felt like we had to help," said Mary.

"We started getting involved by giving scholarships," said Robert. "We put together a five-year plan with goals and objectives. We want them to be fully self-sufficient in 10 years and able to fund their own school system."

The couple soon realized that the school's poor condition was a symptom of a larger problem.

"One of the causes of their poverty is the failure of their farming system," said Robert. When the Burns' realized the extent of necessity in the villages, they began raising money to fund improvement programs as well.

Donations mainly come through friends and acquaintances. A high school scholarship for one student is about $300 a year.

Kasimu serves nine villages and has about 1,000 students of all ages enrolled. The KEF has already provided funds for a daily lunch program, a new administrative building, scholarships for 22 students and a monthly stipend for the teachers. The next goal is to build classrooms for the first four grade levels, which currently conduct class outside under trees. The couple would also like to see a high school built in the area.

"Less than 1 percent of Kasimu's students graduate high school," said Robert. "We want to raise that to 80 percent."

"I don't think we can afford not to do it," said Mary regarding the work they do. "The reason that we have poverty in the world is that the ones that have are not sharing with those that do not."

"If we can improve this school we will have made a difference in the lives of 5,000 people," she added. "We have received letters from the people there saying that there is now hope in their villages for the future."

INFORMATION:

Donations can be sent to the Kasimu Education Fund, 1667 Springer Rd., Mountain View, 94040. Robert and Mary Burns say all donations are tax deductible and all of the money goes to the fund.

For more information, visit www.kefmalawi.com.