First xenophobic evacuees arrive in Malawi

The first bus carrying 120 Malawian evacuees fleeing the South African xenophobic attacks arrived here Sunday, a government statement said Monday.

According to the statement from the Ministry of Foreign affairs and International Cooperation, another bus with 240 evacuees is expected soon.

"The Malawi Government has hired seven buses to ferry those Malawians willing to come back following the xenophobic attacks that began two weeks ago," reads the statement.

The statement said a reception centre had been set up here where the evacuees will be sheltered pending onwards transfer to their final destinations.

The statement also said since most of those fleeing South Africa left their travel documents the Department of Immigration would screen them to avoid people fro m other countries taking advantage.

Meanwhile, the Malawi government is discouraging Malawians from travelling to South Africa.

Joyce Banda, the Foreign Affairs Minister, said if Malawians "have to travel to South Africa they should avoid visiting informal settlements" where poor South A f rica, who are carrying out the xenophobic attack, stay.

The attacks on foreigners, which started in Johannesburg a fortnight ago, have spread to other cities as Cape Town and Durban.

In a televised address Sunday marking the Africa Day, President Thabo Mbeki condemned the attacks, saying the South African economy was built with the help of c i tizens from other countries.