Ethiopian World Federation asks The President of Malawi to institute investigations on integrity of Madonna’s Malawi Charity

👉 ገብርኤል 👉 ማርያም 👉 ኡራኤል 👉 ጊዮርጊስ 👉 ተክለ ሐይማኖት 👉 መርቆርዮስ 😇ዮሴፍ 👉 መድኃኔ ዓለም

💭 የኢትዮጵያ የአለም ፌዴሬሽን የማላዊን ፕሬዝዳንት ማዶና ለምን አፍሪቃውያን ሕፃናትን “አሳድጋለሁ” እያለች በምትወስደው ጉዳይ ላይ ምርመራ እንዲያደርጉ ጠየቀ

ወደ ዓለም አቀፋዊ የዲያስፖራ ድርጅትነት የተቀየረው ፌዴሬሽኑ የማላዊውን መሪ ፕሬዝዳንት ላዛሩስ ቻክዌራን ማዶና የማላዊ ልጆችን በጉዲፈቻ በመውሰዳቸው “የሰዎች ዝውውር እና ማህበራዊ ሙከራዎች” ላይ “ግብረ–ሰዶማዊ እና ጾታ–ዘለል/ትራንስጀንደር” ውንጀላዎችን ለመከላከል እየጠየቀ ነው።

አዎ! ግሩም ተግባር ነው፤ “ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ!” የሚል እንዲህ ነው እንጂ አፍሪቃውያንን መምራት የሚጠበቅበት፤ የጋላ–ኦሮሞዎቹን አቆርቋዥ፣ ወደ ኋላ ጎታች፣ መንደርተኛና ኋላ ቀር፤ “ሁሉም ኬኛ! ኢኔ! ኢኔ!” ዲያብሎሳዊ ባህልንና መርሆን በመከተል፤ “ወልቃይት እርስቴ! ቅብርጥሴ” እያለ እራሱንና ኢትዮጵያን ማዋረድ የለበትም።

ግብረ–ሰዶማውያኑ ወኪላቸውን ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊን በኢትዮጵያ አስቀምጠዋል፤ በአክሱም ጽዮን ላይ የዘር ማጥፋት ጦርነት የከፈተበትም ዋናው ምክኒያት፤ አክሱም ጽዮን መለኮታዊ በሆነ መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ፣ አፍሪቃንና መላዋ ዓለምን ከሉሲፈራውያኑ ሥርዓት የምትከላከል ድንኳን ስለሆነች ነው። እነ ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊ ተገድለው ለውሻ እስካልተሰጡ ድረስ በተለይ በኢትዮጵያ ሕፃናት ላይ ከፍተኛ አትኩሮት ያላቸው ግብረ–ሰዶማውያኑ እኹይና ፀያፍ ተግባራቸውን ከመፈጸም አይቆጠቡም።

💭 Ethiopian World Federation asks The President of Malawi to institute investigations on integrity of Madonna’s Malawi charity, Raising Malawi

👉 Courtesy: Nyasa Times

Ethiopian World Federation, an organisation established in the United States in 1937 to promote love and good-will among Ethiopians at home and abroad, has made surprising stance on world celebrated performing artist, Madonna Louise Ciccone — who adopted four Malawians.

The Federation, which has since transformed into a global diaspora organisation, is asking the Malawi leader, President Lazarus Chakwera to prevent “homosexual and transgender” allegations over the adoption of the Malawian children for possible “human trafficking and social experiments”.

In opening the investigations, the Federation is also asking Chakwera to look into the integrity of Madonna’s Malawi charity, Raising Malawi — and “restrict her and her associates accessibility to Africa and to African children as a precautionary measure until a thorough investigation is done into child trafficking, sex exploitation, sexual slavery, adoption reversal, threat of coercion, fraud, deception and abuse of power or vulnerability”.

The Federation quotes Malawi Penal Code that provides in Section 137A: ‘Indecent practices between females. Any female person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another female person, or procures another female person to commit any act of gross indecency with her, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any female person with herself or with another female person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years’.

The petition makes references to a book that Madonna wrote in 1992 called ‘SEX’, which “features adult content including softcore pornography and simulations of sexual acts including sadomasochism (the derivation of sexual gratification from the infliction of physical pain or humiliation either on another person or on oneself)”.

“Gay porn stars were photographed in pornographic pictures with Madonna performing vulgar sex acts with the same sex which should have been disclosed during her adoption case in 2006 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

“Madonna had to sign a contract that forbade the book from including images of child pornography, bestiality, or religious imagery. Shortly after signing that agreement, Madonna founded a company called Maverick, a partnership with Time Warner.

“She now holds total artistic control over any work released by Maverick, who is now the book’s publisher. The agreement she signed with Time Warner with the sexually explicit content in the book Sex was null and void.”

The petition further says the “psychology behind her ability to release child pornography, religious imagery, bestiality and vulgar pornography has prompted her to open an orphanage in Malawi named ‘Raising Malawi’ in 2006 to host social experiments on vulnerable African children in Malawi”.

It adds that in the same 2006 when Madonna founded the charity “she falsely accused [David Banda’s] father of being absent” when she was applying to adopt him.

Madonna is being accused of using David Banda “for sexual exploitation and social experiments today”. Pictures are awash on social media of David Banda wearing female clothes, makeup and wearing earrings — whilst the two holding hands like two lovers.

The organisation further says Justice Fiona Mwale, who presided over the adoption application, is alleged to have made “a series of harsh questioning of [Madonna’s] motives” — and quotes the Judge as saying in her judgement: “In determining her motives, I questioned the petitioner at length about the impact of her decision which could be construed as robbing Malawi of its most precious resource, its children.”

“We firmly believe that Malawi has been robbed of its most precious resource — its children,” contends Ethiopian World Federation. “In 2013, the country accused Madonna of ‘bullying’ state officials and making diva demands — and of citing her Raising Malawi charity as the reason for doing so.

“After another appeal, the Supreme Court granted Madonna the right to adopt her second child from Malawi, Mercy James. In 2017, Malawi granted the singer permission to adopt again, and she became mother to twin baby girls Esther and Stella Mwale.

“After careful review and facts presented regarding the psychological, physical and mental abuse of African children on January 11, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa confirmed that Ethiopian Parliament passed new legislation banning adoptions by foreigners on January 9, 2018.

“In 2019, nearly 70% of human trafficking victims in the U.S. were identified as either being sex trafficked, or victims of both forced labor and sexual exploitation.

“The High Court recently stated that 25 million people worldwide are not afforded their fundamental right to freedom; however, the International Labor Organization estimates the number of human trafficking victims to be approximately 40 million,” said the petitioners — citing the link https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/12/13/the-current-state-of-sex-trafficking-and-celebrity-perpetrators/.

The petition also accused the government of Malawi of failing “to do a complete social background check on the adoptive parent” and they have reason to believe that Madonna “is using these children as a social experiment in response to the heavy LGBTQ community push for sodomy in America”.

“We, the global diaspora, the Black People of the World at the Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated are concerned that the integrity of Africa and the cultural traditions should be preserved, not exploited or discredited.

“In 2013, Malawi accused Madonna of exaggerating her contributions to the impoverished country and unreasonably demanding special treatment during a tour there and Madonna has used social media to discredit the culture and policies that Malawi has in place to protect our children globally.”

The organisation says, concerned about the welfare of all black people of the world, the Ethiopian World Federation has existed since 1937 “in order to effect unity, solidarity, liberty, freedom and self-determination — to secure justice and maintain the integrity of the entire African continent, which is our divine heritage and a policy we uphold, defend and protect”.

The Federation operates from 105 West 125th Street #1095, New York, NY 10027–4444 — whose email is www.theethiopianworldfederation.org/ewf@theethiopianworldfederation.org.

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Official Document Describes Scale of Abuses in Ethiopia War

💭 እነ አቶ ጌታቸው ረዳ ሕዝቤን ለአውሬዎቹ የሤራ አጋሮቻቸው አስረክበው ወደ ደቡብ አፍሪቃ ለሽርሽር ሄዱ። እዚያው ቢቀሩ፣ መምጣቱ ለማይቀረውና ጋላ-ኦሮሞዎቹን ለሚበቀለው ጽዮናዊ አርበኛ ለአፄ ዮሐንስ አምስተኛ እድሉን ቢሰጡት ምናልባት ከገሃነም እሳት ሊድኑ ይችሉ ይሆናል። 😠😠😠 ዋይ! ዋይ! ዋይ! 😢😢😢

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Dozens of women and girls have been raped and hundreds of civilians killed during fighting in Ethiopia´s Tigray region, according to an official document seen by The Associated Press.

Roughly 40 girls and women between the ages of 13 and 80 were raped in the town of Sheraro in northwestern Tigray, according to the document prepared by Tigray´s regional Emergency Coordination Centre. The center includes regional government bureaus, U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

The document reports eight more rapes, “including gang rape,” in the district of Tselemti, also in northwestern Tigray.

Issued Oct. 14, the document did not state who was responsible for the sexual violence. Nor did it state the time frame in which it occurred.

According to diplomatic sources, Eritrean and Ethiopian forces took control of Sheraro last month. Eritrean troops have fought alongside Ethiopia´s federal military since hostilities resumed in Tigray on Aug. 24 after a lull in fighting.

Diplomats have expressed alarm over reports of civilian casualties in the region as Ethiopia´s federal military this week took control of the major town of Shire and the federal government expressed its aim to capture Tigray´s airports and federal institutions.

A humanitarian worker based in Shire told the AP the town´s airport is now manned by Eritrean forces. Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have captured warehouses belonging to NGOs there, and Eritrean forces are specifically looting vehicles, according to the aid worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of safety fears.

U.S. officials have called on Eritrean forces to withdraw from Tigray and urged the parties to agree to an immediate cease-fire. The administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, has described the human cost of the conflict as “staggering.”

The internal document seen by the AP said 159 individuals have been “shot dead” in the Tahtay Adiyabo, Dedebit and Tselemti areas of northwestern Tigray, adding that others were maimed by gunshots and shelling.

A further 157 people were “taken by Eritrean forces” in Tselemti, Dedebit and Sheraro, according to the document, which said there is “no information (on their) whereabouts.”

The latest fighting has halted aid deliveries to Tigray, where around 5 million people need humanitarian help. A lack of fuel and a communications blackout are hindering the distribution of aid supplies that were already in the region.

Ethiopia´s federal government said Thursday it would participate in African Union-led peace talks expected to begin in South Africa next week. Tigray’s fugitive authorities are yet to confirm their attendance but have previously committed to participating in talks mediated by the African Union.

Both the U.N. Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council were due to discuss the conflict on Friday.

A World Food Program spokesperson told the AP “an armed group” entered its warehouse in Shire on Oct. 18, a day after Ethiopia´s federal government announced the town’s capture.

“WFP is actively working to confirm if the armed individuals remain and if any humanitarian stocks or assets have been taken or damaged,” the spokesperson said.

All sides have been accused of atrocities since the conflict in northern Ethiopia began almost two years ago.

Last week a report by the Amhara Association of America advocacy group said the Tigray forces had killed at least 193 civilians and raped 143 women and girls since August in the Raya Kobo area of the Amhara region, which borders Tigray.

The conflict, which began nearly two years ago, has spread from Tigray into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara as Tigray´s leaders try to break the blockade of their region.

Source

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The World’s Worst War You Aren’t Watching is in Ethiopia

💭 At least half a million people have died so far from direct violence, starvation and lack of access to health care.

💭 ዓለም የማታየው የአለም አስከፊ ጦርነት ያለው ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ነው።

እስካሁን ድረስ ቢያንስ ግማሽ ሚሊዮን ሰዎች በቀጥታ ጥቃት፣ በረሃብ እና በጤና አገልግሎት እጦት ሞተዋል።

“Calling out the atrocities for what they are would at least put Ethiopia and Eritrea on notice that the world is watching, and the long arm of international justice could ultimately prevail. Offenders in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, to name a few, ultimately faced justice after all.”

“የተፈጸሙትን ግፎች በስም መጥራት ቢያንስ ኢትዮጵያና ኤርትራ ዓለም እያያቸው መሆኑን ያሳስባል እና የረዥም አለም አቀፍ የፍትህ ክንድ በመጨረሻ ሊያሸንፍ ይችላል። በሩዋንዳ፣ የቀድሞዋ ዩጎዝላቪያ እና ሴራሊዮን ወንጀለኞች ጥቂቶቹን ለመጥቀስ ያህል በመጨረሻ ለፍትህ ቀርበዋል።“

👉 Courtesy: Star Tribune

While the world’s eyes are trained on the war in Ukraine and whether Vladimir Putin is unhinged enough to use nuclear weapons, another war rages mostly unseen some 3,000 miles away in Ethiopia.

The war is centered on the northern region of Tigray, where a long-standing political conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) turned violent in 2020. The region has been under a near total blockade for most of the time since, cut off from humanitarian aid, electricity, telecommunications and banking, leaving 5.3 million civilians in dire straits. The Ethiopian government’s renewed offensive has escalated the crisis even further.

Accurately estimating the dead while war continues is difficult, but the best estimates available suggest at least half a million people have died so far from direct violence, starvation and lack of access to health care. Starvation seems to be a feature rather than a bug in the government’s battle plan. More recent estimates suggest that this number have died in combat alone, possibly bringing the overall deaths closer to a million.

To put it in perspective, the United Nations estimates about 6,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine so far, and estimates put military deaths in the tens of thousands. Even if these estimates are low, the best available numbers suggest that the scale of death in Ethiopia exceeds that in Ukraine many times over. And yet Ethiopia has received a small fraction of attention, both from policymakers and the media.

The U.S. and others must take a more direct approach before the worst fears of the Tigrayan people are realized.

Those fears include a genocide of the people of Tigray. In response to the latest offensive, the United Nations, African Union, United States and other countries have called on all sides to cease hostilities. But generic calls for everyone to stop fighting and quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy that has been the favored approach so far are a woefully inadequate response.

Tigrayan authorities have indicated that they would respect a cease-fire, but Ethiopian government officials have instead doubled down to lambaste the “evils” of its enemy. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government has reportedly dropped leaflets in Tigray stating that anyone remaining behind would be considered a combatant, raising clear concerns that all Tigrayans, a distinct ethnic group, would be targets in an assault.

Sources from the area claim Ethiopian and Eritrean forces (their allies) have been instructed to kill three Tigrayans each, including elderly and children, and that victims’ limbs and skulls are on display.

These stories are unverified given the lack of humanitarian and media access to the region. But given the language and actions of Ethiopia so far, along with the death toll and atrocities already committed, there is little reason not to take them seriously.

Eritrea’s role has complicated efforts to reach a peace, too, as few countries have any leverage to influence its actions, and the TPLF is its sworn enemy. There is no guarantee that Eritrea will stop fighting even if the Ethiopian government comes to the table.

While it’s true that all sides have committed abuses, the scale is hardly comparable, with Ethiopia and Eritrea committing the lion’s share of wanton violence and harm against civilians throughout the conflict. When one side holds this level of responsibility for continuing conflict and suffering, those who hold any sway must speak out clearly and directly against it.

At this stage, peace looks like a long shot, but that does not excuse the inadequate efforts made so far.

The U.S. and the United Nations are often loath to invite criticism by directly calling out states for violent acts against their own people when those states are friends and partners, as Ethiopia is.

It won’t likely end the war, but that is a weak excuse for not trying harder. The innocent people of Tigray deserve acknowledgment, and there is a chance that such international pressure, in combination with policy choices that reduce Ethiopia’s support, through international institutions and individual countries alike, could influence the path Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed chooses.

Calling out the atrocities for what they are would at least put Ethiopia and Eritrea on notice that the world is watching, and the long arm of international justice could ultimately prevail. Offenders in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, to name a few, ultimately faced justice after all.

We must stop shying away from uncomfortable conversations when so many lives are at stake. If U.S. leverage is inadequate, we should press the countries who arm and support Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the international financial institutions like the World Bank which keep the country afloat as its economy falters.

The time for quiet diplomacy is over. The time for alarm has long since passed. Echoing what we’ve heard repeatedly about the plight of Ukraine: If Ethiopia stops fighting, the war ends, but if Tigray stops fighting, in the absence of international oversight and an inclusive peace process, the impoverished people of Tigray might end instead.

💭 Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States as of October 20, 2022 will be eligible for TPS.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
October 21, 2022

AS DELIVERED

Just a quick, brief statement. The Security Council just met to discuss the conflict in Ethiopia, in a closed meeting. And I want to take the opportunity to thank the A3 and the African Union for leading on this process, including the statement that was issued by the African Union today, and we were briefed by the African Union.

It is disappointing that the council did not agree on issuing a statement, which is why it’s important for me to come out here today.

As the Secretary-General said this week, “The situation in Ethiopia is spiraling out of control. The social fabric is being ripped apart, and civilians are paying a horrific price.” In the past week alone, we’ve seen a serious uptick in fighting and violence. Thousands of Ethiopian, Eritrean, and TPLF forces are engaged in active combat. The scale of the fighting and deaths rival what we’re seeing in Ukraine, and innocent civilians are being caught in the crossfire. Over two years of conflict, as many as half a million – half a million – people have died, and the United States is deeply concerned about the potential for further mass atrocities. And we all should be.

We’re also horrified by the recent death of an aid worker from the International Rescue Committee and the injuries of others. We heard today that a total of 26 humanitarian workers had been killed over the course of the past two years – that’s approximately two per month. This tragedy underscores the serious dangers facing humanitarian workers in the region. And as I told the Security Council just now, it’s past time for all of the parties to lay down their weapons and return to peace. It is past time for a cessation of hostilities and for unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need. And it is past time for Eritrean Defense Forces to halt their joint military offensive and for Ethiopia to ask Eritrea to withdraw its soldiers from Northern Ethiopia.

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Malawi Finds Mass Grave of Ethiopians | ማላዊ የኢትዮጵያውያን የጅምላ መቃብር አገኘች | ዋይ! ዋይ! ዋይ!

💭 የማላዊ ፖሊስ ኢትዮጵያውያን ፍልሠተኞች ሊሆኑ ይችላሉ ያላቸውን የ፳፭/25 ሰዎች አስከሬን በጅምላ ተቀብሮ ማግኘቱን ትናንት አስታውቋል።

“መቃብሩ የተገኘው ማክሰኞ ነበር። በማግሥቱ የአጥር ከለላ አበጅተን አስከሬኖቹን ቆፍርን ማውጣት ጀመርን። እስከአሁን ፳፭/25 አስከሬኖችን አውጥተናል” ሲሉ የፖሊስ ቃል አቀባዩ ፒተር ካላያ ለኤኤፍፒ የዜና ወኪል ተናግረዋል።

ፖሊስ ወሬውን ያገኘው ከሉሎንግዌ በስተሰሜን ፪፻፶/250 ኪሜ እርቀት ላይ ከምትገኝ “ምዚምባ” በተባለች መንደር ካሉ ነዋሪዎች እንደሆነ ታውቋል። ነዋሪዎቹ የዱር ማር ቆረጣ ላይ ሳሉ ድንገት ሰዎቹ የተቀበሩበት ሥፍራ ማግኘታቸው ታውቋል።

“በማላዊ በኩል ወደ ደቡብ አፍሪካ ሊሻገሩ የሞከሩ ሕገ-ወጥ ሠደተኞች እንደሆኑ እንጠረጥራለን” ብለዋል ፒተር።

ከሥፍራው በተገኘው መረጃ መሠረትም ሟቾቹ እድሜያቸው ከ፳፭/25 እስከ ፵/40 የሆኑ ኢትዮጵያውያን ናችው ብለዋል ፒተር።

እየፈረሰ ያለው በድን ተቆፍሮ ከወጣ በኋላ ለምርመራ መላኩም ታውቋል።

በግምት ካለፈው አንድ ወር ወዲህ የተቀበሩ ይመስላል ብለዋል የፖሊሱ ቃል አቀባይ ፒተር።

ከአህጉሪቱ በተሻለ በኢንዱስትሪ የበለጸገችው ደቡብ አፍሪካ ከምሥራቅ አፍሪካና ከሌሎች የአህጉሪቱ ክፍሎች ለሚነሱ ድህነት ለተጫናቸው ስደተኞች መስህብ ነች። ማላዊ ደግሞ ተመራጭ አቋራጭ ነች።

ፒተር ካላያ እንዳሉት በዚህ ዓመት ከጥር እስከ መስከረም ባለው ግዜ ውስጥ ብቻ ፪፻፳፩/221 ሕገ-ወጥ ፍልሰተኞችን ማላዊ ድንበሯን አቋርጠው ሲያልፉ ይዛለች። ከእነዚህ ውስጥ ፻፹፮/186ቱ ኢትዮጵያን ናቸው።

💭 የፋሺስቱ ኦሮሞ አገዛዝ በትግራይ ጭፍጨፋውን ባጧጧፈበት ወቅትና ከሤረኞቹ አጋሮቹ ከሕወሓት ጋር አሳፋሪ በሆነ መልክ ለፊታችን ሰኞ በደቡብ አፍሪቃ “የድርድር ድራማ” ባዘጋጀበት እና በኦርቶዶክስ ጽዮናውያን ላይ የሚደረገው ጭፍጨፋ እንዲቀጥል በአዲስ አበባ ሰልፍ በጠራበት የቅዳሜ ዋዜማ ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞችን በድጋሚ ለዋቄዮ–አላህ–ሉሲፈር አምላኩ የደም መስዋዕት አቀረበለት።

እርኩሱ የኢሬቻ መንፈስ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ከገባበት ጊዜ አንስቶ በአገራችን ሞትና ባርነት ነግሷል።

😈 ታዲያ፤ እነዚህን ጋላ-ኦሮሞዎች ዝም ብሎ ማየቱ አይበቃንምን?! ምን እየጠበቅን ነው? ለምንድንስ ነው የራሳችንን የቤት ሥራ ለልጆቻችን የምናሻግረው? ጋላ-ኦሮሞዎች በኢትዮጵያ ይነግሱ ዘንድ እግዚአብሔር በጭራሽ አይፈቅድላቸውም፤ ያለፉት መቶ ሰላሳ ዓመታት፤ በተለይ አፄ ቴዎድሮስንና አፄ ዮሐንስን ከገደሏቸው በኋላ በዳግማዊ ምንሊክ/ጣይቱ ፣ በኃይለ ሥላሴ፣ በመንግስቱ ኃይለ ማርያምና በግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊ ዘመናት የነገሱት ጋላ-ኦሮሞዎች የኢትዮጵያ ጠላቶ መሆናቸውን ደግመው ደጋግመው በግልጽ አሳዩን እኮ!

🐷 የሞትና ባርነት መንፈስ ለኢትዮጵያ ያመጣው እርኩስ ጋላ ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊ

ባፋጣኝ በእሳት መጥረግ የእያንዳዱ ንጹሕ ኢትዮጵያዊ ግዴታ ነው። ይህን አውሬ ያስወገደ ይጸድቃል!

✞ R.I.P 😠😠😠 ዋይ! ዋይ! ዋይ! 😢😢😢

💭 Malawi Police Exhume 25 Bodies of Ethiopians in Mass Grave. A mass grave was discovered in a government forest reserve in Mzimba district.

Following the discovery of a mass grave in which 25 bodies were found, Malawi police have arrested 72 Ethiopian men who were found hiding in a forest reserve in the northern border town of Karonga.

Ten Malawians have also been arrested on suspicion of being part of a syndicate involved in trafficking the Ethiopians.

On Wednesday, a mass grave was discovered in a government forest reserve in Mzimba district, some 300 km (185 miles) south of where the Ethiopian men were arrested on Thursday.

Young boys from the area are said to have gone into the forest reserve to harvest honey when they were first greeted by the pungent smell of rotting bodies before they discovered body parts including heads and limbs.

The boys reported the matter to village elders who in turn notified the police who went to the forest and discovered the mass grave.

On Thursday morning, a separate grave near the one found on Wednesday was also discovered, where another four bodies were unearthed.

Homeland Security Minister Jean Sendeza, who has travelled to the scene of the mass graves, says authorities plan to conduct a post-mortem to ascertain the causes of death.

Human trafficking has become a huge challenge in Malawi, where hundreds of people are regularly arrested and deported for illegally entering the country with the help of organised syndicates.

Last April, up to 140 illegal immigrants were arrested by Malawi police. They included 133 Ethiopian nationals, six from Bangladesh and one from Pakistan. They are yet to face trial.

Police say the 72 Ethiopians and 10 Malawians arrested on Thursday will soon be taken to court to answer various charges connected to human trafficking and violation of immigration laws.

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