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Original Language
English
Number of Pages
62
Reference Number
PUB2020/029/EL
Date of Publication

29 Dec 2020

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Migration Law Review: Promoting Migration Governance in Zimbabwe

An effective migration governance legal framework entails the existence of national laws and policies that are consistent with the constitution and on the basis of rights and obligations established by international treaties and conventions related to migration. This is particularly crucial for countries such as Zimbabwe that hosts different categories of migrants and whose population has also emigrated to other countries across the world. 

The global and regional migration discourse has been changing at great speed, hence the call for an assessment of the extent to which existing migration laws in Zimbabwe are in conformity with the new Constitution and international treaties and conventions. 

To address these challenges, there is a need to assess the extent to which the migration governance legal framework is consistent with the Constitution and migration-related international treaties and conventions. It is through such an assessment that appropriate recommendations can be made to strengthen the country’s migration governance legal framework.

It is against this background that IOM, with funding from the European Union, supported a gap analysis for a migration law review to make recommendations for legislative framework that responds to current migration trends and international obligations for enhanced protection of migrants’ rights.

  • Foreword
  • Acknowledgements
  • ii List of figures and tables
  • List of acronyms
  • ix Executive summary
  • Chapter 1. Introduction and context
    • 1.1. Migration governance framework
    • 1.2. Migration governance and international standards
    • 1.3. Regional benchmarks
      • 1.3.1. Southern African Development Community
      • 1.3.2. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
      • 1.3.3. Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa
  • Chapter 2. The Constitution and migration governance
    • 2.1. Introduction
    • 2.2. Rights limited to citizens and permanent residents
    • 2.3. The Constitution and governance systems
      • 2.3.1. Criminal justice system
      • 2.3.2. Education sector
      • 2.3.3. Health services sector
      • 2.3.4. Labour and employment system
      • 2.3.5. Human rights system
    • 2.4. Constitution and citizenship
  • Chapter 3. The legislative framework
    • 3.1. Introduction
    • 3.2. Immigration Act
      • 3.2.1. Lack of provision for lawful immigrants
      • 3.2.2. Citizenship and the Immigration Board  
      • 3.2.3. Detention  
      • 3.2.4. Immigration rights of citizens and lawful immigrants  
    • 3.3. Immigration Regulations (1998 )
      • 3.3.1. Labour migration: Measures to limit irregular migration of workers
      • 3.3.2. Gaps: Provisions undermining administrative justice
    • 3.4. Need to adopt measures to promote positive labour migration
    • 3.5. Rights of disabled persons
    • 3.6. Border control and security measures
    • 3.7. Education Act (Chapter 25:04)
    • 3.8. Labour Act (Chapter 28:01)
    • 3.9. Gap analysis and recommendations
    • 3.10. Refugees Act
      • 3.10.1. Detention of refugees and protected persons  
    • 3.11. Internally displaced persons  
      • 3.11.1. Prevention of displacement of people  
  • Chapter 4. Stakeholders’ perspectives and responses  
    • 4.1. Stakeholders’ perspectives on an effective migration framework and recommendations  
    • 4.2. Stakeholders survey and data collection  
  • Chapter 5. General findings and recommendations  
    • 5.1. Key findings  
      • 5.1.1. Migration governance and domestic law  
      • 5.1.2. Domestic migration governance regime disconnected from international Norms  
      • 5.1.3. Law lags behind global and regional developments  
      • 5.1.4. Lack of harmonized institutional governance   
    • 5.2. General recommendations  
    • 5.3. Conclusion  
  • Annex  
  • Bibliography