The Adoption and Impact of Restrictive Refugees and Asylum Seekers Policies in Malawi

Forced reallocation of people across borders is one of the universal challenges the world is facing, with a significant number being hosted in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. The ongoing conflicts in most countries in the region and terrorist attacks in Mozambique will likely exacerbate the problem. These refugees are treated differently in host countries, depending on policies adopted by the country, despite most of those countries being bona fide members of international law. This thesis examines why Malawi adopted restrictive policies in comparison to Uganda, which opted for liberalized policies. Scholars argue that the burden associated with refugees drives the closed-door policies of host countries. However, this thesis argues that three main factors - socio-economic and security concerns associated with refugees, and rhetoric politics surrounding refugees - influence nations' decisions on whether to adopt permissive or closed-door policies. These strategies are self-reinforcing when adopted. Malawi's adoption of closed-door policies has instigated more constraints on refugees, negatively impacting their rights. Conversely, Uganda's liberalized policies turn out to be a developmental tool that attracts support from the international community. The study finds that the socio-economic impact of refugees, security concerns associated with refugees, and the need to survive in politics are the main factors that made Malawi adopt a closed-door refugee policy.