Date Of Article: 8/19/2002
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Our hospitality is being abused
By: Our Reporter
The clampdown that the Police mounted on Friday in Lilongwe to hunt for illegal immigrants suspected to have been behind a spate of motor vehicle thefts in the city could not have come at a better time. However, it should be extended to other towns and cities such as Blantyre and Mzuzu. There is no question about Malawi being a reliable member of the international community, fulfilling all its obligations under various conventions and treaties in line with the international law. This includes giving refuge to asylum seekers. But the story behind the rise in crime in the country will reveal that some immigrants under the guise of seeking political asylum have abused this hospitality and have engaged in criminal acts leading to loss of Malawian lives. When the civil war in Mozambique ended in 1991, it left an indelible mark on the country through the proliferation of arms which were in turn used in robbery and other crimes. We do not want to appear to be xenophobic but the truth of the matter is that some foreigners in the country have bitten the very hand that feeds them and as a country we have not plucked enough courage to say enough is enough. Surprisingly other countries have not been timid in wielding their whip on wayward foreigners and some Malawians have been victims. How many times have Malawians been sent home on cargo planes from South Africa because of entering that country illegally? One wonders why we lack the stamina to reciprocate this in kind. In the final analysis, we ask the Police and Immigration to work together and solve crime perpetrated by immigrants who abuse our hospitality. Immigrants should be the last to break the laws of this country.
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