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Daniel Chigunwe, Herald Correspondent
Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its commitment to championing migration as a tool for development through the judicious implementation of declarations under the Global Compact on Migration.
The country participated in the two-day second regional review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is an event bringing together governments and stakeholders from 54 African countries to assess progress made in implementing the global compact since its adoption in 2018.
The intergovernmental round-table was convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which serves as the coordinator of the United Nations Network on Migration, a structure comprising 39 UN entities, in collaboration with the African Union Commission.
With discussions taking centre stage on protecting migrants through human-rights-based border governance, Zimbabwe reminded member states of their obligations to protocols and conventions relating to smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.
Addressing member states on Thursday, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe announced major strides that have been undertaken by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa in guaranteeing the protection of migrants’ human rights.
“Zimbabwe has successfully decentralised its civil registry system in every province to ensure access for all and has gone further to establish state-of-the-art civil registration centres beyond our borders in countries with relatively significant populations of Zimbabwean migrants, such as South Africa,” he said.
“Zimbabweans in the Diaspora will now have access to birth certificates, national identity cards and e-passports which serve as enablers for regular migration as they give them capacity to acquire permits, visas and rights of entry at cross borders.
“This programme is being rolled out to all countries hosting Zimbabwe Diaspora populations.”
Zimbabwe, Minister Kazembe said, has carried out mobile registration targeting especially remote borderline communities, resulting in the successful registration of over 10 000 families of the third generation nationals from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia who, by operation of law, could not claim their nationality of origin.
Minister Kazembe also confirmed how Zimbabwe was implementing a robust integrated Online Border Management System as part of efforts to enhance measures to entrench human rights-based border governance which guarantee protections to migrant.
“The absence of ICT technologies and related infrastructure at borders to manage migration to enhance the capacity of member states to profile, monitor and account for the movement of persons into and out of their jurisdictions thereby mitigating security challenges is a major threat to the implementation of the free movement of persons in Africa. This must be addressed,” he said.
It is against this background that Zimbabwe has embarked on robust integrated online border management system covering every Zimbabwe border post regardless of location.
The system is at an advanced stage of deployment with Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport at 80 percent completion and this will be installed at all major border posts by December 2025.
Through border modernisation programmes, Zimbabwe has upgraded the Victoria Falls International Airport, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and the Beitbridge Border Post into world class border posts.
Plans to upgrade the Chirundu one-stop border post are already in motion.
Online Reporter