Summary Many have served for 6-month, but have been held for a further 9 months or more at Maula prison
BLANTYRE (AFP) - The International Organisation for Migration on Tuesday appealed for funds to fly home 387 Ethiopians who have been held in a Malawi prison even after serving their sentences for illegal entry.
Malawi, which is a transit route for many Ethiopians, Somalis and other Africans seeking work in South Africa, says it has seen a sharp rise in migrants in recent months.
"We are appealing for $232,000 (208,000 euros) from our international partners to repatriate the Ethiopians," Stephane Trocher, head of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) Malawi office, told AFP.
"We do not have those funds and one air ticket costs $600."
Trocher said the undocumented migrants, most of who entered the country from Malawi s northern neighbour Tanzania, were arrested, fined and convicted of illegal entry.
Many have served a six-month sentence, but have been held for a further nine months or more at the overcrowded Maula prison in the administrative capital Lilongwe waiting repatriation.
The Malawian government reportedly accused the migrants of posing a security threat.
"Travelling without papers doesn t prove they are a security threat," Nicolette Jackson, Malawi s deputy head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), told AFP.
"MSF strongly believes undocumented migrants should not be put in prison."
High Court judge Ken Manda recently proposed that migrants should be issued with deportation orders rather than put on trial and jailed.
