Minors entering Zimbabwe’s southern neighbour, mostly illegally, face difficulties securing necessary documentation to allow them to obtain access to basic services, like education.
Immigration lawyer with Lawyers for Human Rights, Samantha Mundeta, said the current system does not offer any protection and instead renders them more vulnerable.
“Foreign unaccompanied children are a voiceless, disenfranchised group who need greater intervention from civil society actors and policy makers in order for their plight to be adequately addressed by government officials who should assume this responsibility for these children,” she said.
“The Department of Home Affairs refuses to issue an asylum seeker permit to children. “An absence of uniformity or consistency in the way that this process is currently being implemented across the country has created confusion among government officials who have decided to rather do nothing.”
Home Affairs pledged to look into the reporting of minors and said the Refugee Amendment Bill, which is expected to be signed into law soon, would address such issues.
Post published in: Politics