A reception and support centre providing humanitarian assistance for Zimbabwean migrants deported from South Africa is to be established by IOM early September at the Beitbridge border crossing in Matabeleland South.
Between 1,000-2,000 Zimbabweans are deported through Beitbridge on a weekly basis. In 2003, the South African authorities deported 55,753 Zimbabweans without official documents. Figures for this year are likely to be higher with 24,000 Zimbabwean irregular migrants being deported between January-March alone.
When they return to Zimbabwe, most deportees do not have enough funds to legally cross back into South Africa or return to their homes. Although it is not uncommon for deportees to walk long distances in an attempt to get home, they usually remain in Beitbridge, placing a strain on the health system in particular.
The reception centre, funded by the British government's Department for International Development (DFID), will help the deported migrants, including unaccompanied children, with transportation, food rations, basic health care, information on HIV/AIDS and irregular migration issues, including human trafficking and smuggling.
In addition, IOM will work with mobile populations such as truck drivers, informal cross border traders and commercial sex workers who reside intermittently in the border town on HIV/AIDS and mobility, and human trafficking. It will help enable them to make informed choices about their imminent future and to prevent and counter misinformation and misunderstandings about migration and the link between mobility and HIV/AIDS.
Cross-border migration has become a contentious issue within the Southern African political arena due to existing disparities in economic development amongst countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and subsequent gaps in employment opportunities. The most significant movement - that of Zimbabweans into neighbouring South Africa - is due to a variety of political, social and economic push factors.
South Africa's mining and agricultural industries in particular have long depended on migrant workers from the region with irregular work a feature of agricultural production.
Although there is no reliable data on the number of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa, the Zimbabwean Central Bank last year estimated that 1.2 million Zimbabweans were living across the border while the South African High Commission reported that in 1998, 75,000 Zimbabweans had overstayed their visas.
The programme, implemented in collaboration with the Zimbabwean and South African governments, also aims to initiate a tripartite dialogue between the Ministries of Home Affairs in both South Africa and Zimbabwe and IOM on issues of cross border migration.
For more information, please contact Nicola Simmonds, IOM Public Information Officer: Tel: + 263 4 335044.