Zimbabwe needs migration policy - Swedish envoy

Zimbabwe needs an immigration policy that integrates migration into a broad development agenda, a diplomat says.

Harare - Zimbabwe, with more than three million people believed to be living in neighbouring South Africa alone, needs an immigration policy that integrates migration into a broad development agenda, the Swedish Deputy Head of Mission to Zimbabwe, Maria Selin said on Monday.

Selin made the remarks in an interview on the sidelines of a Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Project Close Out Meeting at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) offices in Harare.

She said the Zimbabwean government was being assisted by the IOM to formulate a migration policy that would integrate the issues of migration into the country's development agenda.

"IOM has also been working with government, not with Swedish funding, on producing the diaspora policy because of course a country like Zimbabwe in the region where you have got so much migration you need to have government policies that really look into all aspects and see not only the challenges but also the potential with migration so that is what the IOM has been able to assist the government with," Selin said.

Selin said SIDA was working with the IOM to promote humane migration and to see whether they could work in communities to support those that were affected by migration.

"It's quite clear that we have had a long standing relation with IOM and we have been working together for many years to support on issues of migration because it is quite an important aspect of development," she said.

Selin said the SIDA, together with the IOM, was working with different communities in order to settle various people who have had to move from their original settlements for various reasons.

"We have been trying to work with them to integrate them into the community and with our support of about $3 million for two years, one thing that we have done is set up three reception centres in Beitbridge ,Plumtree and Nyamapanda that we have now handed over to government so they continue to be fully operational in order to assess the migrants that come back to Zimbabwe," she said.

Despite having to deal with its own migration policies, which were putting a strain on the government finances, Sweden would continue to support Zimbabwe to deal with its migration problems and had availed $3 million to be used over two years.

"The Swedish government is committed to stay in Zimbabwe and we are preparing a new strategy, a five year strategy on development co-operation for Zimbabwe, so despite the fact that the national budget, has been hit pretty hard by the cost of migration, we are now fully committed that this will not have a negative impact on our cooperation in Zimbabwe for years to come," she said.

She said they had a slightly lower disbursement this year but was confident that in the next few years they would fund projects in Zimbabwe to the tune of around $25 million per year.

IOM Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Rangarirai Tigere, said they were dealing with a number of cases of unaccompanied children, adding that the government of Zimbabwe had put in place measures to provide the necessary assistance to the affected children.

"It's quite a concern that we have been addressing together with government where we have minor children who sometimes migrate or have been separated from those with whom they are travelling with," he said. "We are quite glad that government has put in place measures to provide the necessary assistance when such cases come through the reception and support centres; for instance in Beitbridge and Plumtree, there are child centres run by the relevant ministry to provide relevant support."

Tigere said although he did not have the exact statistics of the affected children, he was convinced the figures were high enough to warrant immediate attention. He said migration affected everyone, including children, adding that the major cause of migration was the economic situation which forced families to move in search of greener pastures.

* Zimbabwe and South Africa are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the establishment of recruitment centres at the Beitbridge Border Post.

Acting Deputy Director for International Relations in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Langton Ngorima, said the recently held Bi National Commission meeting in Harare had agreed that the memorandum would be signed during the first quarter of 2017. He said Zimbabwe would also establish immigration centres at its borders that would provide information for migrants to make informed decisions before they crossed into neighbouring countries.

African News Agency