IOM and partners have begun to implement a contingency plan to
provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwean migrants who may be
forcibly returned from South Africa this year following the end of
a regularization campaign on 31 December 2010.

Hundreds of thousands of irregular Zimbabwean migrants could
face deportation from South Africa as only about a sixth of the
estimated Zimbabwean irregular migrant population applied for legal
status.

Nearly 276,000 Zimbabweans in the end registered for
regularization through the campaign that began last September.
However, there are an estimated 1.5 million Zimbabweans living in
South Africa, many of whom migrated as a result of the social and
economic unrest in Zimbabwe in recent years.

IOM, together with humanitarian partners and the Zimbabwean and
South African governments will provide humanitarian and protection
assistance to vulnerable returnees, including unaccompanied minors.
Under the plan, IOM with support from local and international
organizations has prepositioned non-food items including tents and
blankets at Reception and Support Centres at the Beitbridge and
Plumtree border crossings in Zimbabwe.

The locations, bordering South Africa and Botswana, are two of
the principal points for cross border traffic for Zimbabwean
migrants. The IOM Beitbridge and Plumtree centres, which opened in
2006 and 2008, have assisted some 316,000 and 121,000 returnees
respectively with protection services, basic medical treatment and
health-related referrals, temporary shelter, food, water and
sanitation facilities, psychosocial counselling, information on HIV
and AIDS, family tracing and reunification assistance and
transportation.

In September 2010, agreement was reached between the Zimbabwean
and South African governments to register all Zimbabwean nationals
currently residing in South Africa. As part of the arrangement,
irregular Zimbabwean migrants had to apply for legal residency
status based on employment or business ownership in South Africa by
December 31, or risk deportation.

Zimbabwean migrants faced a number of challenges to regularizing
their status, including a backlog for processing passport
applications in Zimbabwe itself.

IOM assisted registration efforts by providing material,
equipment and staff to support a mobile registration centre as well
as working with a farm association in the Limpopo border area to
identify communities and facilitate registration of Zimbabwean
nationals within the Province.

IOM continues to support community stabilization efforts in some
of the most impoverished migrant sending areas of Zimbabwe through
income generation programmes and other livelihoods
initiatives. 

For more information, please contact:

Yukiko Kumashiro

IOM Harare

Tel: + 263 4 333 454

E-mail: "">ykumashiro@iom.int