Eighty-five Malawians are said to be dying monthly in South Africa in cases a group that deals with issues of human trafficking says are linked to trafficking in persons, including poor mode of travel.

Speaking during a meeting with senior government and civil society leaders in Mzuzu on Saturday, Global Hope Mobilisation executive director Caleb Thole linked the deaths to the poor mode of travel to the country as the majority of immigrants use illegal means.

He said: “The figure that we have got from our partners is that at least 85 Malawians die every month in South Africa.

“We believe that the impact of human trafficking is behind the deaths.”

Illegal migrants after being intercepted by the police

Thole said a proper investigation needs to be instituted to establish exactly what was behind the deaths.

“Our embassies need to be vigilant, need to be trained on trafficking so that when these issues come, they need to provide necessary support,” he said.

Thole said last year, the organisation rescued around 260 victims who were to be trafficked to South Africa.

Last October, 30 dead bodies of people believed to be Ethiopians were found in Mtangatanga Forest in Mzimba.

In an interview, peace and security expert Master Dicks Mfune said Malawi and her neighbours under the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) Troika, should call for a meeting to look into illegal migration.

He said: “Sadc countries need to call for an emergency meeting to discuss this threat of illegal migration as it is becoming a security threat in the region.

“I am aware that corruption is involved in this and there are cartels involved in it.”

In September 2022, the United States ranked Malawi’s fight against human trafficking as average for the third consecutive year.

The US State Department in the 2022 Trafficking in Persons report cited perennial weaknesses, lack of care for survivors, allegations of corruption against government officials and poor funding as major flaws in the fight against human trafficking.

Malawians, mostly women and girls, are trafficked across national borders, mainly to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Europe, and the Middle East to work.

The post ‘85 Malawians die every month in SA’ first appeared on The Nation Online.

The post ‘85 Malawians die every month in SA’ appeared first on The Nation Online.