On 13 October 2025, the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court ordered the release of containers that the Malawi Police Service had confiscated while moving refugees and asylum seekers to Dzaleka Camp. Subsequently, the police sold some of the farm produce contained in the containers to preserve their value.
The Applicant, a naturalised Malawian citizen originally from Burundi, argued that since the police did not find any evidence of criminal activity, and he was not charged with any offense, there was no reason for the police to retain the containers and the money obtained from selling the farm produce contained within them when they were confiscated. The Court agreed with the Applicant.
The Court’s decision recognises that the continued detention of the confiscated goods would amount to a violation of the right to property enshrined in section 28 of the Constitution, which is only limited by section 44 where a crime is alleged or suspected to have been committed.
Vivian Kasunda, from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, which supported the case, stated that,
“The judgment is a testament to the power of the law in protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals. The Applicant, who is a naturalised Malawian citizen, was subjected to an unwarranted confiscation of his family’s property. The court saw through the lack of justification for the police’s actions and ruled in the Applicant’s favour. This victory is not just for the Applicant, but for all those affected by similar abuses of power.”
SALC welcomes the Court’s judgment, which affirms the importance of due process in exercising police powers. This ruling sends a clear message that authorities must respect the rights of all individuals, including refugees and asylum seekers, and that confiscating property without justification is unacceptable.
Background
On 27 March 2023, the Government of Malawi issued a directive mandating the voluntary relocation of all refugees outside designated areas back to Dzaleka camp within 14 days (Dzaleka camp is the only refugee camp in Malawi; built in 1994 and was designated to accommodate about 10, 000 refugees and asylum seekers but as of early May 2023, accommodated about 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers). In May 2023, the Government, through the Ministry of Homeland Security and Malawi Police Services, arrested and detained a total of 505 individuals suspected to be refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants and detained them at Maula prison. Of the 505 persons, 202 were males, 89 females and a concerning 117 children. At the same time, the Malawi Police Service confiscated the Applicant’s and others’ containers as part of a relocation exercise to Dzaleka Camp.
The containers were confiscated on suspicion that there were items of criminality in them, but after the police conducted a search in the containers, they did not find anything suspicious. The relocation from their homes to Dzaleka was accompanied by cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment amounting to torture, despite Malawi adopting the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework at the Global Compact on Refugees-UN General Assembly, which demonstrated its commitment to allow social, economic, and educational integration of refugees into Malawi’s community, refugees in Malawi have experienced systematic violations of their human rights during this relocation exercise. Refugees endured overcrowded conditions, physical abuse, lack of access to legal representation and family, detention without trial, and limited access to basic amenities.
The Applicant was represented by Felisah Kilembe.