30 July 2024, Blantyre – Yesterday, the Mzuzu High Court ordered that 30 days should be the reasonable time envisaged under the Immigration Act within which deportation of undocumented immigrants ought to be effected by the State, remarking that “in the current constitutional dispensation we can’t have people detained indefinitely, be it citizens or foreign nationals”. The Court ordered the State to provide a progress report to the Court within 30 days on the steps taken to deport such foreign nationals. The High Court also sustained the order that children ought not to be detained in prison.
“We are happy with the High Court’s judgment because we have seen a huge number of undocumented immigrants being detained in prisons for indefinite periods. Sometimes the number of immigrants is equal to the prison’s capacity. This puts undue pressure on the prisons which are already overcrowded and do not have enough food to feed prisoners.” Said Victor Mhango, the Executive Director of CHREAA.
Commenting on the judgment, Chikondi Chijozi, said “It is commendable that the Legal Aid Bureau took up this matter “having observed that there are so many immigrants that are detained illegally in prisons. The judgment is very progressive as it urges the State to consider alternative options such as issuing temporary permits, release on bonds/recognisance and encouraging self-repatriation.
“As the Bureau, we are very happy with the judgment of the Court. When we visited Mzuzu prison and found that over 100 immigrants were being detained at Mzuzu Prison with the offence of illegal entry, we were concerned with the overcrowding in the prisons and our assessment of the cases, showed that there were actually some immigrants that were illegally detained and we decided to challenge that,” said Chimwemwe Chithope Mwale, Assistant Director of the Bureau, who represented the applicants.
Background
The Case was brought by 25 immigrants who were illegally detained in Mzuzu prison. During its routine prison visits, the Legal Aid Bureau between 2- 4 July discovered that there were over one hundred persons of foreign nationality incarcerated in Mzuzu prison for the offence of illegal entry into Malawi. The Applicants have been under illegal detention as they continued to be detained in Mzuzu prison despite their remand warrants expiring in January 2024, and others are still being detained even though they had finished serving their sentences and were supposed to be deported by 26 June 2024. The Applicants were represented by Counsel Chimwemwe Chithope-Mwale of the Legal Aid Bureau with support from SALC and CHREAA.
For more information contact:
SALC: Chikondi Chijozi, +265888647847 or chikondic@salc.org.za
Legal Aid Bureau: Chimwemwe Chithope Mwale,+265999421873 or cmwale@legalaidbureau.org
CHREAA: Victor Mhango, +26599952256 or victormhango@chreaa.org
