Albinos Are Killed For Their Body Parts

What is Albinism

Albinism is a rare genetic disease in which you are born with an insufficient amount of melanin pigment. Melanin is a substance found in your body that determines the color of your skin, hair, and eyes. The majority of albinos have exceptionally pale skin, hair, and eyes. They are more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer.

Attacks on Albinos

Some African nations have a long history of hunting, attacking, and even killing albinos for their body parts, which are believed to be lucky charms and materials for potent witchcraft concoctions.

These attacks have increased dramatically recently, affecting the country of Malawi.

The majority of these victims are murdered so that their internal organs and/or bones may either be preserved as amulets of good fortune or, more likely, sold to witchdoctors in Malawi or some of its nearby countries, like Mozambique.

The majority of those who attack those with albinism are close relatives. Even parents of albino children have grown too protective.

A Report From Amnesty International

According to a report from Amnesty International; since 2009, there has been an increase in the frequency of abductions, killings, and exhumations of the remains of people with albinism, according to the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare in Malawi. with the majority of cases reported in regions bordering Mozambique.

The reason for this spike is unknown, but activists in Malawi believe it could be due to organized gangs that have yet to be discovered, as well as opportunistic attacks based on rumors that selling bones can earn huge sums of money. In several cases, attackers were close relatives like fathers and uncles who appeared to be working with criminal groups.

The recent surge of violent attacks on people with albinism has created widespread fear among the public. Almost every individual with albinism in Malawi, regardless of social or economic status, is afraid of being killed or hurt because of their albinism. This fear is shared by other family members as well.

In addition to the possibility of death, albino women face rape as a result of local beliefs that having sex with someone with albinism may cure HIV/AIDS.

Malawi's government has condemned the attacks, appointed a special legal counsel, and established a "National Response Plan" in response to the tide of rape and murder, but the new Amnesty International report claims that these measures have failed, particularly because punishments are not severe enough to deter future offenders.

Furthermore, the survey argues that the prevalent poverty in Malawi is partly to blame for crimes against albinos, with criminals believing they may make a lot of money by selling albino body parts.

Whatever the underlying motivations for the attacks, Malawi's albinos are being persecuted to the point of extinction. According to a United Nations report, if nothing is done to prevent these crimes, the minority may vanish forever.

A Report Of A Recent Attack

Early in the month of December, 2022, a murderer killed an albino toddler in her bed before chopping off her leg for good luck. Tadala Chirwa, three, was sleeping at her grandmother's house when the burglar broke in shortly before midnight on Wednesday to carry out the heinous murder. She was kidnapped from the bed she shared with her grandma in the Mawawa community.

Following the death of the newborn, Amnesty International is pressing Malawian authorities to improve people's safety in the east African country.

"The horrible nature of Tadala Chirwa's killing is genuinely disturbing and a subject of great worry," said Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International's Campaigner for Southern Africa.

"This killing and amputation are consistent with previous patterns of attacks on people with albinism, which are motivated by the mistaken notion that their body parts bring money and good luck.