Mutare – IOM, the UN Migration Agency is supporting the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) through the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to develop the National Migration Policy. A policy drafting workshop was held in Mutare from 25 to 28 March 2019 to come up with a comprehensive policy framework that deals with migration and development.

The complex migration issues in Zimbabwe are handled by several ministries, with limited coordination resulting in migration and development issues lagging. Two sector migration policies already in place, the national diaspora policy and the national labor policy are not adequate to cover other critical migration issues taking into cognizance security and climate fundamentals.

“The national migration policy will be the overarching policy document which will address all the issues pertaining to migrants, be they Zimbabweans or nationals of other countries” said Ambassador Mathema, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage in his key note remarks.

Minister Mathema highlighted the importance of the policy in unpacking the principles and guidelines in the African Union Migration Policy Framework and Plan of Action. “This Migration Policy should assist us as government to address the challenges of irregular migration, border governance, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, data collection and internal displacement in line with AU policy framework.” He also added that current international waves on migration discourse actively encourage safe and orderly migration through the Global Compact.  

The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Mr Melusi Matshiya pointed to the importance of evidence-based policies adding that they are critical for government decisions. “Better migration governance can be realized through the development of evidence-based policies that consider the whole of government approach that all stakeholders have since embraced.” He said.

The Minister told the stakeholders that the GoZ is grateful to IOM support, “the government appreciates support from IOM which has enabled the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration to coordinate and identify key thematic areas for inclusion in the Migration context in Zimbabwe Situation Analysis which will guide us as we develop the National Migration Policy.” Minister Mathema explained that the IOM support would enable government and stakeholders to share information, experience, knowledge, regional and international best practices in migration management.

Zimbabwe has a long history with cross border mobility having witnessed the worst brain drain in the past two decades. Highly skilled and semi -skilled Zimbabweans emigrated to countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Canada, South Africa and Botswana in search of greener pastures. The country has also realized increased internal and border migration resulting in an upsurge in irregular migration, human smuggling and mixed migration flows. This calls for a comprehensive migration policy to enable the GoZ to harness the development potential of migration as it identifies key issues, processes or categories and explore ways of mitigating its negative impact.

The GoZ migration initiatives are being supported by IOM Development Fund and the “Promoting Migration Governance in Zimbabwe” project under the 11th European Development Fund.

For more information please contact Varaidzo Mudombi at IOM Zimbabwe – telephone +263242704285 email: vmudombi@iom.int