AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MALAWI CHARGE TO ZIMBABWE

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000956

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
LILONGWE FOR POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ASEC ZI MI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MALAWI CHARGE TO ZIMBABWE

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. RAY FOR REASONS 1.4 B,D


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Malawi-Zimbabwe relations are complicated
by the presence of over two million Malawians in Zimbabwe,
most working in farming and mining. The president of Malawi
adopts a hands-off policy in SADC to avoid provoking Harare
and causing the expulsion of Malawians which could have a
devastating impact on the country's fragile economy. Over
half of the Malawians in Zimbabwe are undocumented, creating
a potential humanitarian crisis, and those who work on large
farms are severely impacted by the farm seizures. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) I met with Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Veronica
Chidothe-Tasosa on December 4 at the Malawian Embassy. She
said that the main function of Malawi's mission here is to
look after the more than two million Malawians who reside in
Zimbabwe. Many of them work in agriculture and mining, and
are descendants of people relocated here from then Nyasaland
when the region was under British rule. She said that there
are so many Malawians here that on the road, "every five
people you meet, one is likely to be Malawian." Because of
Malawi's rules on citizenship, those who are born outside the
country and do not establish a physical presence before they
reach the age of 22, are not entitled to citizenship papers.
Unfortunately, she said, in Zimbabwe, those who are low
income farm workers (especially those who work on white-owned
farms) are not given Zimbabwean documents. She estimates
that there are about one million people in this undocumented
category. Establishing their identity and entitlement to
Malawian citizenship is a difficult task.


3. (C) The presence of so many Malawians in Zimbabwe, which
is separated from Malawi by only 200 KM or so of Mozambique,
is a complicating factor in the bilateral relationship. With
a fragile economy and a population of 14 million to take care
of, Malawi fears that angering Zimbabwe could cause the
expulsion of Malawians. This would have a devastating impact
on Malawi's economy. For this reason, Malawi's president
takes a hands-off approach to SADC meetings involving
Zimbabwe, sending his foreign minister to deal instead.
Malawi also does not make public statements critical of
Mugabe or ZANU-PF, even in the face of Harare's failure to
pay for several tons of food Lilongwe shipped here.


4. (C) Chidothe-Tasosa said that the Malawian farm workers
suffer acutely from the ZANU-PF farm seizures. While Harare
is willing to provide identity documents to Malawians who do
well economically, those with low incomes don't get papers.
Because they are ethnically and culturally different, when
they are dispossessed, they are also not accepted into rural
social welfare groups. This creates a potential humanitarian
disaster that keeps the Malawian embassy here on edge.


5. (C) COMMENT: With a population estimated at 9 - 12
million, Zimbabwe's demographics are interesting. While
Malawians probably account for the majority of
non-Zimbabweans in the country, there is likely to be a
significant percentage of people from other neighbors. While
a lot of our focus has been on the impact on Zimbabweans of
ZANU-PF's wrong-headed policies, this is a dimension of the
problem that probably merits further study. Should Mugabe,
in a fit of pique at his neighbor, decide to expel Malawians,
it would cause untold suffering and really damage Malawi's
Qit would cause untold suffering and really damage Malawi's
economy. END COMMENT.

RAY