Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya-Beitbridge Bureau
EFFORTS to support thousands of Zimbabweans returning from South Africa received a major boost yesterday after Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe and United Nations Resident Coordinator to Zimbabwe Dr Rosemary Kalapurakal signed a joint resource mobilisation plan in Beitbridge.
The signing ceremony took place during a tour of the Beitbridge Reception and Support Centre, which has become the focal point for processing returnees arriving from South Africa following anti-migrant protests in parts of that country.
The joint plan is expected to help Government and the UN mobilise additional resources to support returnees through transportation, health services, documentation, temporary shelter and long-term reintegration initiatives.
More than 100 000 Zimbabweans have returned home through Beitbridge Border Post since May 28. Of these, over 33 000 have been assisted by Government, while more than 70 000 made their own way back into the country.
After touring the reception centre, Dr Kalapurakal praised the systems put in place to receive and support returnees.
“I am impressed with the process and the coordination by the Government of Zimbabwe,” she said.
“The reception centre is working well. Returnees are being received with dignity and given basic support.”
She said the United Nations remained committed to supporting Government efforts to ensure returnees have access to food, healthcare, transport and psychosocial support.
Minister Garwe said the resource mobilisation framework would enhance coordination among stakeholders and improve the ability of Government and its partners to respond to emerging needs.
“This plan gives us a clear roadmap,” Minister Garwe said.
“It will help us mobilise resources for screening, documentation, medical checks and reintegration of our people.”
He commended the support being provided by United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and community groups that have joined Government in assisting returnees.
“Our people are coming back under difficult circumstances. We have a duty to receive them, support them and help them restart their lives,” he said.
Minister Garwe said the new framework would also focus on long-term support mechanisms to help returnees rebuild their livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to the economy.
The interventions include skills training programmes, access to grants and linking returnees to local economic opportunities in their respective communities.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has confirmed that two Zimbabweans have died during the ongoing repatriation exercise.
Briefing Minister Garwe and the UN delegation during the tour, an official from the ministry’s Consular Services Department, Mr Hillary Muhumbe, said one of the deceased died while travelling to Beitbridge Border Post from within South Africa.
The second person died while being transported from Beitbridge to Gokwe after arriving in Zimbabwe.
Mr Muhumbe said Zimbabwe’s Embassy in Pretoria and the country’s consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town continue to coordinate the movement of returnees and facilitate assistance for vulnerable citizens.
“More partners have come in to assist with transport, venues for processing, and tents to support what government is already doing at the border,” said Mr Muhumbe.
He said efforts were underway to repatriate the remains of the Zimbabwean who died in South Africa. The body is currently at the Musina Government Mortuary awaiting transportation home for burial.
At the Beitbridge Reception and Support Centre, returnees are provided with health screening, meals, temporary accommodation and transport assistance before proceeding to their home districts.
