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Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe (CCJP Lilongwe) has appealed for social and humanitarian support towards starving families in Nthundwala Camp in Kasungu.
Nthundwala Camp is in the area of Sub Traditional Authority (STA) Nthundwala and is currently hosting 127 families.
The Malawi Government last provided humanitarian support to the campers five years ago, a development that has led them into destitution.
On Monday, a team from CCJP Lilongwe toured the camp to appreciate the challenges the campers are facing.
CCJP Lilongwe Archdiocesan Secretary Enock Kamundi expressed shock to find that the campers are surviving on nkhwani (pumpkin leaves) because they do not have any good.
“These people are living under inhumane conditions. They have no food and have no access to social services. I wonder why the government has allowed its people to live like refugees in their own country,” said Kamundi.
He added that there is an urgent need for humanitarian support to the campers to ensure no life is lost during the lean season.
“These people are in dire need of food support. Otherwise we will lose lives here and that’s not what a caring government would want,” emphasized Kamundi.
The camp chairperson Stanley Lyson said the families do not have farmland where they can produce food on their own; hence, their reliance on support from well-wishers.
Lyson said their appeal to the government to allocate them land has received cold response.
“We want to produce our own food and stop relying on humanitarian support. That’s why we are asking government to allocate us land where we can settle and freely grow our own food crops,” he said.
STA Nthundwala commended CCJ Lilongwe for visiting the campers to see for itself the suffering the families are going through.
He assured the Commission of his commitment to supporting any intervention it is undertaking to rescue the stranded families.
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