CDEDI asks govt to assist 60 Malawian students stranded in China

Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has asked the Tonse Alliance government through Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to urgently assist 60 Malawian citizens who have been stranded for about three months in the People’s Republic of China.

Malawian students are stuck in China due to the COVID-19 lockdown in China.

In a letter addressed to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CDEDI Acting Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa has asked the government to swiftly help the students.

“The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has written Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for urgent assistance to about 60 Malawian citizens who have been stranded for about three (3) months in the People’s Republic of China and desire to return home.

“It has come to the attention of CDEDI that these Malawian students, who completed their studies in June in various universities, are stuck in China due to the COVID-19 lockdown in China and present restrictions on movement of people as preventative measures to the spread of the virus. Their over stay in China has further been exacerbated by the Malawi government’s decision to stop inbound and outbound flights,” said Namiwa.

He added: “CDEDI has also learnt from the president of the Association of Malawians in China and his secretary that the concerned students stopped receiving any financial support from their respective universities just immediately after their graduation and that they have been surviving on assistance from friends ever since.

“Due to inadequate and unreliable support from fellow students, the concerned students have now been subjected to desolate life as they are struggling to buy food and pay for their accommodation. The situation is now getting out of hand as their respective schools have already served them with eviction notices from the dormitories they are living in.”

According to Namiwa, the students approached the Malawian Embassy in China for help but they are yet to be assisted.

Effort to talk to Minister of Information Gospel Kazako on the matter proved futile.