Detained Malawians to benefit from SA court ruling

The High Court in South Africa has ordered Lindela Repatriation Centre, where about 600 Malawians are detained, to cease all practices that result in non-compliance with that country’s Immigration Act.

The Malawians, purportedly with no proper travel documents, are being held at the centre where abuses such as deprivation to medical care are reported.

Most Malawians that are detained and deported from South Africa leave behind their property; in some cases acquired over years, because they are not given a chance to go to their respective residences to collect their belongings.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), in its report released last month after a two-year long survey, revealed the suffering that detainees from different nations are facing at Lindela.

But days before the report’s release, the South African’s High Court had ordered Lindela to allow the SAHRC access to the facility on a regular basis and that regular reports on the number and status of detainees at Lindela be issued.

The court also ordered the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that no person is detained for a period exceeding 30 days from the date on which that person is first arrested.

While Lindela is a self-regulating facility, the court felt that oversight by institutions such as the SAHRC was necessary considering the systemic and pervasive non-compliance with detainee’s constitutional rights.

The SAHRC, which dragged Lindela and the Department of Home Affairs to court over what it called ‘unconstitutional practices at the centre’, said the ruling was a victory for migrants in South Africa.

Lindela is the only facility in South Africa where illegal migrants are detained while awaiting deportation.

Malawi Human Rights Commission executive director Grace Malera said in a response to a questionnaire that the commission is aware that the SAHRC undertook investigations into violations of the human rights of detainees at Lindela and that the South African Gauteng High Court handled the matter relating to the treatment of the detainees at the centre.

Malera said it is worrisome that the majority of the detainees at the centre are said to be Malawians.

“This could be a pointer to the fact that there is an influx of Malawians entering into South Africa illegally. It is telling of the various challenges, especially relating to the realisation of economic rights that we are facing here in Malawi, such as the high cost of living, high rates of unemployment, etc.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Dr George Chaponda said in an earlier interview that President Peter Mutharika has first hand information on the welfare of Malawians in South Africa.