MALAWIAN ACCUSED OF PEOPLE TRAFFICKING

The Mozambican police have arrested a Malawian citizen in the northern city of Nampula, believed to be part of an organised criminal network trafficking in human beings.Along with the Malawian, the police picked up four undocumented Ethiopian men, whom they believe are victims of the people trafficking network, reports Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”.The spokesperson for the Nampula provincial police command, Sergio Mourinho, told reporters “when questioned, the Malawian citizen said he came from South Africa and entered Mozambique on 23 January. He said he was carrying four people back to South Africa, to Johannesburg”.Mourinho believed that the Malawian was part “of a large ring of traffickers in human beings. This man (the Malawian) speaks English and Chichewa (the main national language in Malawi). But the four Ethiopians speak neither English nor Chichewa, much less Portuguese”.The Malawian, who was not named, told the police it was his brother who had asked him to pick up the Ethiopians in Mozambique and drive them to South Africa. He claimed he did not know what the Ethiopians would do once they were in South Africa. Nor did he explain how they would cross the border, since the four were not carrying passports or any other form of documentation. Mourinho said the four Ethiopians will be handed over to the immigration authorities for repatriation, while the Malawian will stand trial.