CHISOMO CHING’OMA, 19321252011.

Assessing the factors that lead to illegal

immigration and its impact on social-economic
welfare. THE CASE STUDY OF MAULA PRISON
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

• In 2010, almost 279,000 illegal immigrants were recorded. Before closing the transitional
refugee camp in Karonga it was registering 300 illegal immigrants per week.

• Illegal immigrants are involved in money laundering activities, prostitution activities,

black market foreign exchange and goods and drug trafficking.

• Some Malawians together with other illegal immigrants organize human trafficking in
most of the parts from the north.

• There is a high rise in the case of organized crimes in Malawi like carjacking and armed
robbery.

• There was a joint operation with the Malawi Police service, intelligence officials and the
northern region immigration this focused on tracking down illegal immigrants in the city
of Mzuzu.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
• The researcher understands that there has been a rampant increase in illegal
immigration cases with significant social and economic implications. However, the
researcher wanted to understand the underlying factors that trigger immigrants to
engage in illegal immigration. By identifying this the government and relevant
stakeholders can implement relevant policies that aim to mitigate the cause.

• In the past two decades Malawi has received illegal immigrants from Mozambique,
Somalia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Sudan. The
report indicate that Malawi receives an average of 5000 illegal immigrants per annum.
• In 2022 quarterly year, alone the northern region recorded 389 illegal immigrants’
cases as compared to the previous year, which was 374 cases of illegal immigration.
In April alone this year 140 illegal immigrants were arrested in Mzimba together with
two Malawian drivers.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To find out on how do they get in the country passing all border patrols

2. To explore the factors that influence illegal immigration

3. To assess the impact of illegal immigration to the general public
4. To recommend the ways the government and other relevant stakeholders need to
deal with the situation
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• How do they manage to get in the country amidst all border patrols and posts?
• Why do illegal immigrants come to Malawi than other countries?
• What are the impacts of illegal immigration to the general population?
• How effective are the intended ways of dealing with illegal immigration problem?
EMPERICAL EVIDENCE

1. Travelling on the lake at night was the most used method for the illegal immigrants
and their guide up until 49 Ethiopian migrants drowned in lake when the overloaded
boat, they were using capsized. One of the people who was caught and was part of
the syndicate that was leading this route, said that, the people would wait for him
with the help of crooked police officers to wait for the night to come so that he
should get them into small boats. (Reliefweb, 2013)
2. The national security becomes vulnerable. The high presence of illegal immigrants
usually poses a security threat to the local resources and citizens. The fact that these
immigrants are undocumented makes it easier to commit crimes and not get caught.
Since the investigative systems are usually based on the records of people, this would
make such attempts unsuccessful (Nkhoma).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1. RESEARCH APPROACH
Qualitative research method. Qualitative research is used to collect and analyze non
numerical data. The researcher used to get in-depth information about illegal immigrants
perceptions, experiences and behaviors.
2. RESEARCH DESIGN
Explanatory research design. This design explain why certain situations exist by
exploring underlying procedures and factors that contributes to them. The researcher
used it to understand why illegal immigration cases have increased.
3. RESEARCH SETTING
Research setting is a place where the study will take place. This study was conducted at
Maula prison, Lilongwe. Because that is the place that holds illegal immigrants.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CONT………..

4. TARGET POPULATION
The target population of this study was 46. These participants are selected based on
different characteristics.

5. SAMPLE SIZE
Sample size refers to the number of participants or observations included in a study.
From the target population of 46 only 20 were picked randomly to be part of the
research study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CONT………..

6. SAMPLING METHOD
Sampling is the process of selecting the group where data will be collected. The researcher used
both Non-probability sampling and Probability sampling which were simple random technique
and Judgement sampling respectively.
7. RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
The researcher used interview guide in order to get detailed information about the illegal
immigrants experiences and perceptions. Other instruments included; Phone recorder, pen. To
carryout the research perfectly.
8. DATA ANALYSIS
Content analysis. This is a research tool used to analyze data the with the presence of certain
words, themes, or concepts. The researcher braked down the findings into themes to get the
targeted ideas.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
• Repetition of information given by the respondents
• Communication barrier with most of the respondents
• Took time to get letter of approval from the Prison Service headquarters.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
• Informed consent
• Confidentiality
• Voluntary participation
RESEARCH FINDINGS
• Most of illegal immigrants use Malawi as a route to South Africa and do not stay here
• Illegal immigrants are looking for better standards of living
• Bribery and corruption at the boarders and roadblocks they are now passing tickets for the
illegal immigrants
• Congestion in Malawi prisons
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Working with source countries (To the government)
• Strengthen anti-corruption measures (To the government and anti-corruption Bureau)
• Fulfill all the legal requirements before migrating to Malawi (To illegal immigrants)
AREA OF FURTHER SUDY
• A further study can be conducted on the factors that influence corruption and bribery in all
border posts in the country.
REFERENCES

REFERENCES
• Masina, L. (2014). Malawi Immigration crackdown becomes blame game. Africa.
• Nkhoma, B. G. (n.d.). Transnational threats: The problem of illegal immigration on Northern Malawi. In
Southern Africa peace and security studies (pp. 29-40). Mzuzu: Mzuzu University.
• MNAT. (2020). Malawi's Human Trafficking routes: Mapping Cross border transit points using collective
data. Freedom colaborative