Zimbabwe braces for mass deportations from South Africa

The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, expects between12,000 and 24,000 Zimbabweans to be expelled each month from neighbouring South Africa where 1.5 million Zimbabweans are living, most of them illegally.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said thousands of migrants were expected to pass through a reception and support centre it’s been running since 2006 for Zimbabwean migrants at Beitbridge on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border.

IOM officials said services on offer included medical care, counselling for rape victims, temporary shelter and family tracing for unaccompanied children, and free transport home to Zimbabwe. IOM also has a project to help people to set up their own small businesses, such as hairdressing or carpentry.

Poverty is likely to be the greatest challenge for returnees with unemployment a staggering 80 percent in Zimbabwe. Many will not even have money to travel from the border back to their communities or buy basic household items, aid workers say.

UNHCR will help returnees get vital documentation. National identity cards are necessary “for pretty much everything” in Zimbabwe, including sitting school exams and accessing health care services, according to Tina Ghelli, a UNHCR Southern Africa official. In April 2009, South Africa halted the repatriation of Zimbabweans in recognition of the political violence and economic collapse in their home country.

South Africa now wants to resume deportations following the introduction of a power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai after disputed elections in 2008.

Red tape

Under the new regulations, only migrants with a valid Zimbabwean passport who are studying, working or owners of businesses can apply for a permit to live in South Africa. Few are likely to qualify. “The majority of the migrants engage in informal menial jobs so they might not be qualified for these (permit) requirements,” Yukiko Kumashiro, who works IOM in Zimbabwe, told AlertNet.

UNHCR is calling on South Africa to reform its asylum system, which has been overwhelmed by applications by Zimbabwean economic migrants who see it as the easiest way of regularising their immigration status. Under South Africa’s refugee laws, those whose asylum claims are recognised as genuine have the right to work and access social services in the same way as South African citizens.

But the process of getting a work permit is cumbersome, requiring documentation, such as a passport, which many Zimbabwean migrants do not possess. As a result of its generous laws, South Africa receives the largest number of asylum applications in the world, 67 percent of which are made by Zimbabweans. In 2009, it received 222,000 asylum applications in 2009 and 207,000 in 2008.

Impossible to stem human smuggling

South Africa’s decision to renew expulsions is unlikely to stem the tide of Zimbabweans seeking to escape political and economic troubles at home. UNHCR says 300 Zimbabweans are claiming asylum at the border town of Musina each day. An increasing number of these are children travelling alone. Many migrants are subjected to rape, theft or violence during the journey.

“Most people are coming because of the dire humanitarian situation they are facing in Zimbabwe. They are trying to do the best that they can to support their family,” Ghelli said. Despite South Africa’s increased border patrols and fencing, the migrants keep coming.

“There’s a lot of human smuggling and people crossing the river … It’s almost impossible. No matter how much they invest, it’s a losing battle for them,” said Kumashiro. “The majority of migrants are from rural areas who have no livelihood opportunities at home.”