Albinism in Malawi: Living in Fear

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Over the past two years, at least 65 people with albinism have been attacked in Malawi - sometimes mutilated and dismembered alive by machete-wielding assailants.

Amnesty International has documented what it calls "ritual killings" of people with albinism in Malawi. And on Tuesday, a Malawi newspaper said that "two days cannot pass without
hearing on the local media cases of people with albinism being killed". Last week, a local activist told Al Jazeera that the situation is "a crisis".


Albinism, a congenital disorder where people lack pigment in their skin, hair and eyes, affects about one in every 20,000 people. It is more common, however, in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aljazeera reports that there are an estimated 10,000 people with albinism in Malawi - a country of 16.5 million people. There have also been a number of attacks reported on people with albinism in Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi so far this year.

Some in southern and eastern Africa believe that body parts belonging to people with albinism have magical powers, leading to them allegedly being sold on a black market run by criminal gangs across southern and central African countries.

In countries like Malawi, currently struggling with an economic crisis, food crisis and drought, international aid should come forward to help.

In Kenya, it was the government that took charge. In Tanzania, the people who took over were the aid agencies. The success in these countries illustrates how government and civil society can change this Aljazeera reports.