These Malawians, stranded and desperate in Durban following a wave of xenophobic attacks, are expressing frustration with their government for doing too little to help them return home.
Thousands of them are living in squalid conditions in the cold, alongside their children. Some women have given birth while stranded, one woman gave birth to twins on Monday, while others have been rushed to hospital suffering from dehydration, exhaustion, and other health complications.
The first woman says they do not even have sanitary products and have been unable to change for days. She says they have also been unable to bathe for several days, leaving them in extremely difficult and undignified conditions.
Malawian President Peter Arthur Mutharika, who recently travelled to Johannesburg on a private jet for a medical check-up, has so far only sent eight buses to assist with repatriation, despite there being 7,000 Malawians stranded in Durban alone.
These migrants are not a burden on Malawi, they are one of the country’s most important economic lifelines. Every month, they send home remittances that pay school fees, cover medical bills, build homes, support small businesses, and put food on the table for thousands of families. That money circulates through the economy, generating economic activity and tax revenue that ultimately benefits the state.
The cost of sending buses and providing emergency assistance to citizens stranded by xenophobic violence is insignificant compared to the years of contribution these migrants have made to Malawi’s economy.
When citizens who have invested so much in their country find themselves in crisis, helping them is not charity, it is a responsibility and a debt of gratitude owed to them by their government.
Yet when disaster strikes and they need assistance from their government following unplanned xenophobic attacks, many feel abandoned. For thousands of stranded citizens facing hardship, eight buses are simply not enough. A government’s commitment to its people is tested not when things are going well, but when its citizens are at their most vulnerable.