Online Reporter
The Herald, 8 July 1983
ZIMBABWE should expect an influx of refugees as conflict in South Africa and Namibia increased and should plan for this eventuality and provide the legal framework to deal with it, the House of Assembly was told yesterday.
Moving the second reading of the Refugees Bill, the Minister of Labour and Social Services, Cde Kumbirai Kangai, said Zimbabwe would have to play a leading role in granting political asylum to those fleeing “these troubled regions”.
This was because of Zimbabwe’s geographical position, which made it a frontline state, and its accession to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees and the 1967 protocol to that convention.
“As contradiction between the apartheid regime and the people of South Africa and Namibia sharpens, this country should expect an influx of refugees,” he said. “It is only wise to plan for this eventuality and also to provide for the necessary framework to deal with such a situation,” he said.
The nation should also be equipped to extend humanitarian assistance to anyone persecuted for their political and religious beliefs, he said. The Bill would, if sanctioned by Parliament, also bring Zimbabwe into line with the 1969 OAU convention governing the specific aspects of refugee’s problems in Africa, a convention Zimbabwe was in the process of acceding to.
The minister said the bastes for determining refugee status would be mainly the definitions of the term refugee, laid down in the UN and OAU conventions. In terms of the Bill a person who entered Zimbabwe with the express purpose of seeking refuge would not be returned to or expelled to the country from which he had fled.
If refugee status was not granted alternative resettlement could be arranged with the United Nations organisation. The Bill provided that applicants for refugee status could remain in Zimbabwe pending a final decision by a screening committee.
Lessons for today
- Minister Kangai emphasized the need to prepare for refugee arrivals before they occurred. The lesson was that countries should not wait for a crisis to develop before creating policies, infrastructure, and legal frameworks to manage it.
- The Refugees Bill sought to establish clear procedures for determining refugee status and protecting refugees’ rights. Today, effective laws remain crucial for ensuring that refugees are treated fairly and that governments can manage migration in an orderly manner.
- In 1983, Zimbabwe was preparing legal frameworks to receive people fleeing political conflict in Southern Africa. Forty-three years later, Zimbabwe is applying the same principle of humanitarian responsibility by helping its own citizens return safely during periods of tension and anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa.
