The Malawi government says it currently does not have the financial muscle to bring home some 16 Malawians that are destitute in Kuwait.
Initially, about a week ago, the number of Malawians was 12 but the number has now risen to 16. Currently, they are being kept at the Malawi Embassy Office in Kuwait.
The 16, who migrated to the Middle East in a desperate search for greener pastures, have reportedly been met by inhuman working conditions and abuses of different kinds.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation, Francis Kasaila the previous budget did not include the repatriation of people from Kuwait
“It is an expense that we did not budget for. Therefore, we need to find ways of how we can find money to be able to support those that are being rescued from their employers in Kuwait,” said Kasaila.
Meanwhile, the minister appealed to financially able relatives of those stuck in the Middle East to help, saying the government currently has a lot on its table including the hunger
“The families of those people that are in Kuwait now, that have been rescued should support. If they can afford to buy an air ticket they should. We will facilitate the travel,” added the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Reports from Kuwait show that the victims had their passports and other travel documents confiscated by their agents.
Following the revelations of the alleged torture Malawians are going through, the Malawi government stepped in to stop any further labour migration to Kuwait.
About two weeks ago, police forcefully stopped some six women who were about board a plane, destined for Kuwait at Kamuzu International Airport.
Due to the woes of unemployment and poverty in the country, scores of desperate young men and women are leaving the country each day, to outside countries both with the continent and beyond.
However, most of them are met by risky conditions, worse than what they left back home.
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