News This Week - June 2000

	SOUTHERN AFRICAN MIGRATION PROJECT
	Migration News - June 2000

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June 2000

Angola: ANGOP (Benguela 06-23) writes that the World Food Programme is providing assistance to some 16,500 internally displaced persons camped at Balombo in the Central Benguela province in Angola. Januario Dotolo, the coordinator of the emergency project revealed that nearly 15, 000 persons were being fed two meals a day, while some 2000 people were being given uncooked food, like flour, beans, vegetable oil and salt. The displaced persons had also been given other items like kitchen kits and hoes. He emphasized that the continuation of the project depended largely on the generosity of international donors, and urged these donors to provide more financial assistance to the region.

Angola/Regional: The Namibian (06-22) speaks to Mengesha Kabede, the UNHCR representative in southern Africa on the occasion of Africa Refugees Day. Kabede argued that “the only solution [wa]s to establish lasting peace in Angola so that refugees [could] go back in peace and dignity.” This month, the UNHCR began a new relief operation in Angola’s Uige Province to provide assistance of nearly 500,000 internally displaced persons. In a similar vein, Sadako Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in her message to commemorate Africa Refugees Day expressed concern over the rising numbers of refugees in the African continent. While speaking in Kenya, she revealed that the numbers of African refugees had increased from 950,000 persons in the 60s to a staggering figure of four million refugees.

Angola: Channel Africa-SABC (Luanda 06-20) writes that the Angolan government has organized peace talks with the Unita rebels in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. Angolan governmental officials have described these discussions as “exploratory.” Civil war resumed in Angola in 1981 after Unita refused to comply with the conditions of the Lusaka peace agreement.

Angola: News 24, Channel Africa-SABC, Sapa-AFP (06-13) quoting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, reveal that several thousand Angolans have tried to escape the country’s prolonged civil war, but are in a ‘living hell’ existing in a dire and desperate situation in the northern Uige province. Supplies like clothes and blankets for these internally displaced persons had been sent by the UN refugee agency, and was expected to reach the Uige camps shortly. In other camps near the town of Negage, the displaced Angolans lacked basic sanitary and medical provisions and women continued to face the risk of sexual violence.

Botswana/Zimbabwe: Botswana Daily News Online, BOPA (06-26) reveal that by-law enforcement officers for the Kgalagadi District Council have expressed their concern over Batswana who provide shelter to Zimbabwean citizens and allow them to trade illegally. At a kgotla meeting in Kang this week, enforcement officers Albert Morgan and Ronald Tsholofelo stated that the situation was ‘shameful’ especially since government officials were also guilty of purchasing goods from Zimbabwean nationals and ‘illegal traders.’

Botswana: Botswana Daily News Online, BOPA (06-26) inform that several asylum-seekers from the Dukwi refugee camp boycotted the ceremony to commemorate the 31^st Africa Refugee Day held at the camp last week. These asylum-seekers were largely from countries like Somalia, Uganda, Eritrea, Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan, and complained to BOPA that the UNHCR and the Botswana Council of Refugees (BCR) was not doing enough to persuade the government to grant them refuge in the country. They also revealed that they were protesting against the strict rules at the refugee camp that severely curtailed their right of movement, denied them freedom of speech, in addition to inadequate food rations. These asylum-seekers held up placards that read: “We need justice…we are refugees, not animals.” In a separate interview, Orebonye Gabonewe, Settlement Commandant for the Dukwi Refugee Camp maintained that asylum-seekers refused asylum by Batswana authorities would continue to be accommodated at the camp, while local authorities negotiated with other countries willing to house them. A message read on behalf of Tebelelo Seretse, Acting Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration assured refugees that Botswana could continue to provide asylum and citizenship to ‘deserving’ refugees. But, the message also revealed that the Botswana government had begun to screen asylum-seekers in the country in recent months after discovering that some people were taking advantage of the asylum system.

Botswana: Africa News Online, Mmegi/The Reporter Online (06-23) staff writer Stryker Motlaloso reports that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in Botswana is going to face increasing scrutiny in coming weeks. Oliphant Mfa, Sebina/Gweta Member of Parliament informed Mmegi that he was planning to move a motion in Parliament compelling the government to institute a commission that would examine the working of the department. Mfa stated that there were several shocking cases in which non-citizens had been able to acquire Botswanan passports with little difficulty. “The situation has reached a crisis point because we even have foreigners who [possess] both Botswana Omang and identity documents from their countries of origin,” he commented. He also declared that he was dissatisfied by the manner in which the department issued work permits to foreigners. This motion follows several reports by Mmegi alleging widespread corruption in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the complicity of visa consultants and department officials. Early this year, Chief Immigration Officer Kgosientsho Seleka had accepted these charges of corruption to this newspaper, and had promised to rectify the situation. In recent weeks, several officers of the department had been arrested and detained for accepting bribes to fix passports.

Botswana: Africa News Online, Panafrican News Agency (Gaborone 06-21) While addressing a function to celebrate Africa Refugee day, Tebelelo Seretse, the acting minister for Presidential Affairs said that Botswana had to adopt strict screening measures to identify refugees. She maintained that Botswana was committed to the principles of granting asylum enshrined in the UN and OAU conventions, but added that many migrants coming to Botswana were economic refugees. A majority of refugees in Botswana are from war-torn Angola, and Caprivi separatists from Namibia. But, it is believed that there are “hundreds of thousands of latent refugees” who have migrated to Botswana for better economic prospects. Although some of these migrants live in refugee camps, many other have taken up employment and residence in different parts of the country. Citizens of Botswana have frequently blamed the government for “being soft” towards immigrants.

Botswana/Namibia: Botswana Daily News Online (06-19) reports that during a recent meeting of heads of central government and council departments, the Ghanzi district Police Commander Senior Superintendent Gaaipone Lesedi said that cordial relations existed between the country’s police and their Namibian counterparts. The police of both these countries met about four times each year to discuss issues of joint policing along the common borders. Lesedi added that cooperation between the two police services had resulted in the apprehension of several cross-border cattle rustlers.

Botswana: Botswana Daily News Online (06-14) reports that Bahiti Temane, an MP for Maun/Chobe has urged residents of Lesoma in the Chobe district to refrain from branding other Batswana working in their villages as “foreigners.” Mr. Kemane stated that every Motswana had the right to work anywhere in the country. People from outside Lesoma, he indicated, had found jobs in Lesoma like some Lesoma residents had moved to other areas in search of employment.

Botswana/Zimbabwe/South Africa: Botswana Daily News Online (06-13) writes that members of the Anti-Poaching Unit at Charter Game Reserve in Tuli Block Farms have revealed that ‘illegal immigrants’ from Zimbabwe were responsible for widespread poaching in the area. Every weekend, officials arrested more than a hundred undocumented immigrants. Some employees of the game reserve had also been accused of colluding with these undocumented immigrants to poach animals like impalas. ‘Illegal immigrants’ were further blamed for theft of possessions belonging to game workers. Employees of the reserve stated that poachers often entered Botswana from South Africa by using boats.

Lesotho/South Africa: Sapa, News 24 (Maseru 06-21) reports that the Lesotho government has expressed its concern about strict regulations for study permits for Basotho students wanting to study in South Africa. At present, Basotho students have to pay R1100 and R850 a year for university and high school study permit respectively. The study permit fees have also been increasing annually as a result of inflation. Foreign minister for Lesotho Tom Thabane said that citizens of Lesotho should be accorded ‘special’ privileges, especially since many black South Africans had studied in Lesotho during the apartheid period when they were not allowed to study in South African educational institutions reserved for whites. He indicated that although the issue had been the subject of “serious negotiations” between the two governments since 1994, no decision had been made so far.

Malawi: African Eye News Service, Africa News Online (Blantyre 06-26) reporter Hobbs Gama writes that the public health service in Malawi is crumbling because doctors are being ‘poached by richer countries.’ Aleke Banda, the country’s health minister informed the Parliament recently that nearly 80 percent of doctors and medical experts in Malawi had left the country to take up lucrative posts in ‘cash-flush’ countries like Saudi Arabia, the UK and South Africa. As a result, the government was able to fill only 10 percent of the total vacancies in Malawi’s hospitals. The ‘brain drain’ was affecting each sector of the public health system, from doctors and nurses to clinical officers and technical support staff. He also revealed that hospitals in rural areas were the most adversely affected by the ‘brain drain.’ But, some countries had finally begun to recognize the crisis being faced by the public health system in Malawi. For example, the German government had recently pledged a sum of US 1,4 million dollars to Malawi to train new nurses and medical assistants.

Malawi: The Zimbabwe Mirror, Africa News Online, Pan African News Agency (Blantyre 06-16, 06-12) write that renewed fighting between Uganda and Rwanda in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Kisangani is affecting several neighboring countries like Malawi as refugees continue to ‘pour into their borders.’ Malawian relief officials were bracing for a new influx of refugees since fighting was resumed nearly two weeks ago. Several Congolese families have already begun to move into Malawi but had not yet registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or Malawi’s Department for Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Rehabilitation. Many of the newcomers were joining relatives already living in Lilongwe and Blantyre since the conflict began a few months ago. One new arrival, an elderly woman told reporters that she fled Kisangani with the family when fresh fighting broke out to join her nephew in Blantyre. Lucius Chikuni, the commissioner for Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Rehabilitation told PANA that a regular trickle of about fifty persons a day were seeking refuge in Malawi from different parts of Africa, including the DRC, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan and Sierra Leone. At present, there are more than 1300 registered refugees at the UNHCR and government sponsored refugee camp in the central district of Dowa. Chikuni added that Malawi ‘feared environmental degradation’ from the increasing numbers of refugees but was restrained by international protocols, including the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention on Refugees from turning away asylum-seekers and refugees.

Malawi: Africa News Online, African Eye News Service (06-13) While speaking at the national parliamentary budget session earlier in the week, President Bakili Muluzi said that the “government will enhance the vigorous management of passports to reduce fraud.” The Malawian government was planning to introduce new equipment for producing passports in which photographs cannot be removed and fraudulently replaced. Moreover, additional immigration officers were to be trained to prevent foreigners from ‘slipping illegally into Malawi to escape civil unrest or natural disasters.’ In a recent operation carried out in Lilongwe, 40 ‘illegal immigrants’ were apprehended with false Malawi passports.

Mozambique/South Africa: Sapa-AFP (06-22) reveals that the Mozambican government has initiated an investigation into claims that South African authorities were repatriating Mozambican mine workers infected with HIV/AIDS. In an interview with AFP, Avertino Barreto, the deputy national health director said that there had been no confirmed cases of deportations of infected Mozambican miners. In South Africa, nearly 100,000 Mozambican citizens continue to work in mines. Recent reports had accused South African mining companies of deporting more than 50 miners since the beginning of the year because they suffered from HIV/AIDS.

Mozambique: Channel Africa-SABC (Maputo 06-20) informs that according to the UN World Food Program, more than 70,000 victims of floods early this year in Mozambique could soon face food shortages caused by limited road access. The UN food agency is expected to feed Mozambicans until the end of September, but indicate that several areas in the southern province of Gaza remain inaccessible because the floods washed out the roads in the region, which had not yet been fully repaired.

Mozambique/South Africa: Africa News Online, Panafrican News Agency (Maputo, 06-19) inform that Mozambique’s first tollgate connecting Maputo and the South African town of Witbank has opened at Moamba, 60 kms north of Maputo. The Maputo-Witbank highway is expected to have five tollgates, of which three are in South Africa, and already in use. According to an official of Trans-Africa Concessions, a French consortium building the roads, the toll is 15.2, 38, 76 and 114 South African rands for light vehicles, small trucks, regular trucks, and heavy trucks respectively.

Mozambique: Africa News Online, IRIN (06-19) state that as per the latest report released by the Institutu Nacional De Gestao De Calamidades (INGC), more than 90 percent of persons displaced by the floods in the early months of this year have departed from the accommodation centres. Some people had returned to their homes while others had moved out to resettle in other areas. But, a small minority were continuing to live in these centres, especially families headed by women who lacked the resources to return home or resettle in other locations. In the southern Gaza province, the floods had displaced about 248,143 persons, and of these, 234,145 have been resettled thus far. The report also revealed that the UN World Food Program had delivered 1,233 mt of food in early June to southern and central parts of Mozambique. But, there had been difficulties in securing authorization for vehicles carrying food supplies to use the road between Chibuto and Chissano. Moreover, clean-up operations were being carried out by personnel from the Ministry of Defence in Xai-Xai and Chokwe, though shortages of supplies was hampering the clean-up operation in Xai-Xai. Finally, the Ministry of Health was presently conducting a survey in the flood-affected regions.

Mozambique/Zimbabwe: Dispatch Online, Business Report, Sapa (Maputo, 06-16, 06-13, 06-08) write that a group of Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers are planning to move shortly to Mozambique. Felicio Zacarias, the governor of the province of Manica in Mozambique disclosed that the Zimbabwean farmers, along with some South African commercial farmers were expected to arrive later this month to raise crops and cattle on unused farmland. The governor, however, denied that the farmers were moving to Mozambique because of the land-occupation crisis in Zimbabwe. “They are coming here as a part of cooperation between Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This move has to do with the need for the socio-economic development of the region.” It is expected that commercial farming will promote the development of food processing industries in the area. The ‘new’ arrivals expected from Zimbabwe had been offered large plots of land of about 4000 hectares between Pungoe and Nhazonia rivers with a tenure right of fifty years. A group of South African farmers have already moved in recent years to the northern province of Niassa under a 1995 agreement between the two countries.

Namibia/Angola: Channel Africa-SABC (06-22) writes that because of the spillover of the Angolan war into Namibia, more than 2000 Namibians citizens have fled the country and moved into Botswana. Bruno Geddo, the UNHCR spokesperson confirmed that there were more than 2000 Namibians, 400 Angolans, and around 350 Somalians in Botswana. The worsening situation in southern Angola, according to Geddo, had also contributed to the influx of refugees into Botswana.

Namibia: The Namibian (06-22) informs that the Namibian government is considering the possibility of setting up a second refugee camp to house the large numbers of Angolan refugees entering the country. The country’s only refugee camp, the Osire refugee camp is already over-populated with more than 11,000 refugees living presently at the camp. The camp was meant to house only about 2000 refugees. A recent report released by Red Cross had revealed that more than a thousand children living at the camp suffered from diarrhoea last year, while about 30 percent of refugee children suffered from respiratory infections. Also, malnutrition among refugee children was considered as one of the biggest problems faced by the refugee community. Mikka Asino, Home Affairs spokesperson indicated that a second camp could be set up in the Mangetti area in the Kavango region bordering Angola.

Namibia/Angola: Africa News Online, The Namibian (Windhoek, 06-21) report that while speaking during the budget session of the National Council, Swapo MP Erasmus ‘Kaptein’ Hendjala said that Namibia’s logistical support to the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) did not imply that the country was “fighting [a] foreign war.” He added that Namibia’s actions should be viewed as “a step to jointly root out a common enemy.” The country, he commented, was committed to bring peace in Angola, and also resolve the problem of border insecurity in northeastern part of Namibia, where many civilians had become victims of recent attacks by alleged Unita rebels.

Namibia/Botswana/South Africa: The Namibian (06-21) writes that Namibia, South Africa and Botswana have agreed to jointly deal with the problems facing the N$1.38 billion Trans Kalahari Highway. The highway runs from Walvis Bay through Windhoek and Gaborone to Gauteng and forms a part of the Maputo/Walvis Bay Corridor. The announcement for the mutual development of the highway was made shortly after a meeting of the Trans Kalahari Corridor Planning Committee in Windhoek yesterday. One of measures agreed to by the three countries was to extend the hours of operation for Botswana-Namibia border post. Truckers and tourists had been complaining for a while that the limited hours of operation forced them to use the slower route between Gauteng and Windhoek-Walvis Bay via the Ariamsvlei border post. Also, motorists driving through Botswana had protested against livestock wandering frequently on the highway especially at night, raising concerns about the safety of motorists. The Botswana government had agreed to build fences around farms along the Trans-Kalahari Highway. The development of the highway was also going to help South Africa’s imports and exports from Gauteng through the more economical route of the Walvis Bay port.

Namibia: The Namibian (06-21) informs that refugees living in the Osire camp have complained that the centre is run like a “concentration camp,” and they are being denied their “most fundamental rights and freedoms.” The Association for the Human Rights of Refugees released a statement to this newspaper stating that medical care provided by the refugee agency was inadequate and they were not given any clothing. The statement also said that Osire residents had to endure “kidnappings, deportations and harassment, deprivation of liberty and personal security.” The regional representative for the UNHCR, Mengesha Kabede responded to these complaints yesterday by stating that he sympathized with the refugees as “they [had to] depend on hand-outs” but maintained that “every effort [wa]s being made to cater for the ideal needs [of refugees].” “Osire is not a five star hotel – it is a refugee camp,” he added. Namibian Home Affairs spokesperson Mikka Asino commented that the Namibian government had been made aware of claims of harassment and kidnapping, but these allegations had not yet been substantiated. Asino asserted that if the rights of refugees were being violated, the government had suitable channels through which these grievances could be addressed. Several months ago, Amnesty International had reported that at least 40 Angolan women at the Osire camp had complained about the disappearance of their husbands. These refugee women feared that their spouses had been handed over to the Angolan authorities. At present, there are more than 11,000 refugees being housed at Osire, and a majority of these refugees are from Angola.

Namibia/Zambia: Africa News Online, The Namibian (Windhoek, 06-20) indicates that the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs will comment on the expulsion of Moses Nasilele, a human rights activist with the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) only after obtaining all the details regarding the deportation. Nasilele, a Zambian born activist is married to a Namibian citizen Sharon Musunga, and is also the founder of the Caprivi Art Centre, one of the main tourist attractions in Katima Mulilo. The NSHR had revealed last week that it was “first alarmed” by the “sudden disappearance” of Nasilele in February of this year. Nasilele was able to contact the organization’s office in Namibia only after traveling to a third country from Zambia in recent weeks.

Namibia/Angola: The Namibian (Rundu 06-16) reports that the Namibian Police and Namibia Defence Force (NDF) apprehended nearly 80 Angolans in Rundu three days ago in a joint ‘clean-up operation.’ The operation was carried out in Kasosi, Kehemu, Ndama, Sauyemwa, and a part of the town of Rundu. The Angolan nationals were arrested for staying in Namibia without valid immigration papers, and were transported to the Maroela police station near Grootfontein to await their tribunal hearing. In addition, Namibian authorities deported more than 280 undocumented immigrants from the country - a majority of these were from Angola.

Namibia: Channel Africa-SABC (Windhoek 06-16) quoting the Namibian government reports that the situation in northern Kavango region has stabilized following the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew here two weeks ago. The curfew, which restricts the movement of Namibian residents along the north-eastern border with Angola had been put in place in order to curb increasing incursions into the region by suspected UNITA rebels.

Namibia: The Namibian (06-16) cited Norman Tjombe, a lawyer at the Legal Assistance Centre who stated that “refugees can take part in politics.” Tjombe was referring to the case of members of the Osire Stars band, who had been detained by Namibian authorities for performing last week at a Congress of Democrats function at Gobasis. The police later claimed that the refugees had been held because they had violated international conventions and protocols for asylum by participating in domestic politics. Tjombe, however, declared that the Namibian constitution gave these refugees the right to associate with, and support any political party in the country. “Nowhere in the OAU conventions on Refugees or the UN Protocol on Refugees does it mention that refugees cannot participate in the politics of a host country.” The lawyer acknowledged that though refugees did not enjoy voting rights in the host country, there were free to establish pressure groups to campaign for their rights, and “make a contribution to our public debates.” In a similar vein, the National Society for Human Rights said that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights allowed all individuals “rights and freedoms” set forth in the declaration, including refugees. Meanwhile, Home Affairs spokesperson Mikka Asino said that the Namibian government was “investigating to see what action, what measures w[ould] be taken against the Osire Stars.”

Namibia: The Namibian (06-15) informs that eight members of the Osire Stars music group, who were detained by the police and the Special Field Force, while performing at a Congress of Democrats function have been returned to the refugee camp from which they derive their name. A source at the refugee camp revealed that the members had been asked not to leave the camp but the members had not been charged with any crime. The refugee status of the band members will be re-reviewed by immigration officials since the band had transgressed the rules for refugees by participating in the domestic politics of Namibia through their performance at a political event. It is believed that the band had performed in the past for Swapo and the government.

Namibia/Botswana: Channel Africa-SABC, News 24, Sapa-AFP (Gaborone 06-13, 06-12) reveal that several hundred Namibians have fled the ongoing conflict between the Namibian army and Angolan Unita rebels, and are seeking asylum in Botswana. A spokesperson for the Botswana President Festus Mogae disclosed that 896 Namibians had entered Botswana in the first four months of this year, and were now seeking refugee status in the country. During the same period, 327 Angolans sought refuge in Botswana to escape fighting between Unita rebels and the Angolan government. These asylum-seekers were being housed presently at the Dukwi refugee camp along with nearly 2000 Namibians who fled Namibia since 1998 because of the separatist movement in the northern Caprivi region. Representatives for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Botswanan officials were in the process of conducting interviews with asylum-seekers to determine their refugee status. Since December when Namibia gave permission to Angolan security forces to extend their offensive into Namibia against Unita rebels, some fifty persons had been killed on Namibia’s northern border. Cross-border raids into Namibia by Unita rebels were considered to be responsible for most of these deaths.

Namibia: The Namibian (06-13) reveals that two Namibian refugees, who had fled to Botswana in 1998, had been granted asylum in Finland. Namibia had recently protested against Botswana’s decision to provide refuge to exiled Namibians linked to the separatist bid in the Caprivi region. Consequently, the UNHCR had been attempting to accommodate these refugees in other traditional resettlement countries. So far, four Namibian refugees had been granted refuge in countries in Denmark, Finland and the United States. About two years ago, nearly 3000 Namibians fled the Caprivi region, and of these only 1200 refugees had been voluntarily repatriated by the UNHCR. These refugees had gone to Botswana claiming persecution by Namibian authorities.

Regional: Botswana Daily News Online (06-28) write that in a statement issued by the UNHCR office in Gaborone to commemorate Africa Refugee Day, the agency expressed its concern over increasing resentment and prejudice against refugees in Africa. The statement read: “there is an increase of xenophobia in areas where refugees were once generously welcomed as brothers and sisters in distress.” Recently, UNHCR launched a “Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign” – a public awareness campaign in order to reverse ethnic, political and religious intolerance.

Regioal: The Times of Zambia, WOZA, Panafrican News Agency (06-27) quotes Vice-President Chiston Tembo in Lusaka who, in his address during the official opening of the regional workshop for the African Capacity-Building Foundation (ACBF) urged African countries to use local professionals and institutions for sustainable development. In a similar vein, Soumana Saka, ACBF executive secretary argued that African countries faced the challenging task of reversing the current trend of ‘human resource flight.’ The continent was losing around 20,000 professionals through emigration to the ‘developed world’ each year. Saka added that the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in many communities in the region meant that countries could not really afford to lose their skilled labour. He also maintained that African countries had ‘subsidized’ the ‘developed world’ through the migration of professionals for a long time; professionals urgently needed to develop their own economies and societies. He expressed his concern at the fact that the African continent was compelled to rely on foreign technical assistance when many of its qualified experts worked in other countries outside the region. ‘…The brain drain phenomenon is among ACBF’s area of focus [and its] interventions place emphasis on local ownership, leadership and responsibility,” Saka commented.

Regional: Pan African News Agency (Lusaka 06-26) writes that the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has urged African governments to reverse the brain drain from the continent. At the opening of the ACBF regional workshop on Capacity-Building Coordination in Africa, the foundation’s Secretary Soumano Sako stated that one of the biggest challenges facing African countries was a ‘critical human capital flight’ resulting in the emigration of more than 20,000 professionals from various African countries every year. Sako maintained that local ownership of enterprises and the creation of new jobs were important to check the continuing flight of skilled labour. “In several cases, ACBF-supported projects have attracted African professionals living and working overseas, thereby contributing to a reversal of brain drain,” he observed. Sako suggested that individuals and communities had to build their capacities, partly through good governance, in order to promote economic development and “truly bring about a meaningful African renaissance.”

Regional: News 24, Sapa (06-23) quotes South African President Thabo Mbeki, and reveals that the much anticipated free trade pact between the fourteen members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would be established by September this year. Speaking to journalists at the culmination of a Davos-based World Economic Forum sponsored economic summit, Mbeki said: “There is agreement for a trade protocol as a first step leading to a free trade area.” The primary objective of the SADC trade pact, under negotiation since early 90s, is to abolish trade barriers in the region, and encourage the free movements of goods, services and people in Southern Africa.

Regional: Channel Africa-SABC (06-20) citing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more than six million people have been displaced in the continent of Africa due to internal conflicts, wars and political intolerance. Regional director of the refugee agency in southern Africa stated that the numbers of displaced persons had increased significantly since 1969 when the Organization of African Unity (OAU) signed the protocol to deal with refugees. He further said that countries should take responsibility for their human rights violations instead of handing over the burden to countries providing asylum to refugees.

Regional/South Africa: Business Day (06-15) While speaking to journalists on the occasion of Africa Refugee Day in Pretoria, UNHCR representative for South Africa, Mangesha Kebede said that the numbers of refugees in the African continent had increased to 4 million, while around 20 million persons remained displaced in the region. Both Namibia and Botswana were experiencing increasing influx of refugees from the neighboring war-torn Angola, while South Africa had received 60,000 asylum applications by the end of April, 2000. “Asylum applications continue to be lodged,” Kebede commented, “as civil strife, and armed conflict” continue in many countries. He revealed that South Africa was the only country in Africa that did not provide material assistance of refugees, and urged the country to help genuine asylum-seekers. He added that many refugees were forced to earn their living as street hawkers, and were often treated with suspicion by locals. South African police regularly labeled genuine refugees as ‘aliens’ by police, and during recent operations against undocumented immigrants, several refugees had been detained. “We are in discussions with governments to issue recognized refugees with [valid] identity cards,” he said.

South Africa/Botswana: Channel Africa-SABC (Pretoria 06-29) write that Mosiuoa Lekota, the South African Minister of Defence will leave for Botswana tomorrow in order to address issues pertaining to defence and border relations between the two countries. Lekota is expected to sign an agreement that will result in the setting up of a joint permanent commission on defence and security for South Africa and Botswana.

South Africa: Dispatch Online (Cape Town 06-28) writes that according to SAPS police commissioner Jackie Selebi, the ‘strategic plan’ to tackle high crime rates in South Africa was succeeding. “I can say without doubt that the morale of the South African police has never been higher,” he stated. Selebi made these comments while addressing the Parliamentary public accounts committee, and disclosed that the police had apprehended more than 160,000 criminals under the new ‘integrated crime-fighting approach.’ Selebi underscored that the South African police force was attempting to manage its resources effectively while at the same time focusing on its main priority of combating crime. “Part of the greatest problem facing South Africa is crime”, he said. “It is such a huge problem that it is important for us to do everything we can to combat crime in a short time.” He recommended that civilians should be recruited to carry out office duties, thereby freeing police officers to focus on crime. He observed that many of the organization’s mistakes had been ‘blown out of proportion,’ and real changes were being observed in the functioning of SAPS in recent months.

South Africa: NetAssets, Sapa (06-28) report that farm labourers in the Northern Province are being subjected to exploitation and abuse on a regular basis for joining local labour unions. This revelation was made during the three-day human rights hearing organized by the Northern Province Council of Churches shortly after it received several complaints from labourers of human rights abuses. Farm workers like January Nyashonke, a Mozambican by birth, and fired after being accused of stealing avocados from a Levhubu farm, testified that pregnant female workers were often not paid during maternity leave while men were denied leave. Female farm workers were also assaulted by farmers, or dismissed for being lazy and talking while working. “The only benefit was [that] we were sometimes allowed to take the over ripe or rotten fruit…but if we took the ones that the farmer thought [were] still good, he would fire us,” he added. Reacting to these testimonies, Bishop Martin Breytenbach, the Chairperson for the hearings disclosed that he would ask the Independent Complaints Directorate and/or the South African Human Rights Commission to look into these violations. “Our purpose is to give voice to the voiceless,” he observed.

South Africa: Business Day (06-27) quotes Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Minister of Home Affairs who maintained that the South African government had to devise a ‘new’ strategy in order to prevent ‘brain drain’ from the country. Buthelezi revealed that many skilled professionals were leaving South Africa in recent years. Buthelezi was speaking at the inauguration of Southbridge International Trade Corporation - a Johannesburg based company aiming to attract foreign investors wanting to set up businesses in South Africa. “What some have casually referred to as the brain drain has affected the growth of the South African economy, also undermining the transfer of skills,” Buthelezi said. He revealed that the government had launched a new program on skills training this year. Similarly, in its efforts to contribute to the expansion of skilled labour in South Africa, the department of Home Affairs would allow entry to foreigners who were willing to train South African citizens, or engage in active skills exchange.

South Africa: WOZA (06-27) writes that, as per the report “Bridging the Internet Divide: The Networking Skills Shortage in Emerging Economies” recently released by Cisco Systems, South Africa was expected to be among the countries worst affected by the shortage of skilled networking professionals. The report examined patterns in supply and demand for networking professionals in 12 emerging economies across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In South Africa, the local skills shortfall was anticipated to rise from 33 percent in 1999 to 62 percent in 2003 – a shortage of 53,000 qualified persons. The report also revealed that the shortage of skilled labour in this field was exacerbated partly by the loss of a migrant workforce increasingly seeking employment in other countries, instead of South Africa. Mike Couzens, senior director of communications and training for Cisco Systems EMEA revealed that this was one of the biggest challenges faced by the country. “We are partnering with the South African government to ensure that this country addresses the networking skills shortage immediately,” commented Bill Weber, general manager of Cisco Systems Southern Africa.

South Africa: Sunday Times (06-25) columnist David Bullard (Column ‘Out to Lunch’) responds to a comment by Andy Dott, president of the South African Tourist Services Association (Satsa) describing Africa as a ‘basket case’ at the association’s annual bash. Bullard defends Dott’s statement by writing that the fact that 1500 ‘illegal refugees’ were ‘streaming across the border’ from Zimbabwe for ‘a better life’ – only served to validate the idea that ‘Africa is a basket case.’ Dott, Bullard added, had been labeled as a ‘racist’ only for speaking the truth, for ‘telling it as he sees it.’

South Africa: Sunday Times (06-25) columnist Frank Meintjies (Column ‘Left Brain’) writes that South Africa ‘needs a new value system for a new society.’ He argues that attempts in the recent past to create a set of new values based on mutual respect, human rights and integrity had been confounded by dangerous and negative trends, which included generalized prejudice against foreigners. The xenophobic and increasingly negative attitude towards immigrants was fuelled by the public and politicians, and reached its lowest point when a mob fatally threw three innocent immigrants off a train. The fact that ‘no public outrage nor serious public inquiry’ followed this episode, observed Meintjies, only reinforced this unfortunate reality.

South Africa: Sunday Times (06-25) reporter Janet Heard provides an account of a group of refugee women in Khayelitsha, who have set up independent businesses thanks to financial aid and training provided by the Cape Town Refugee Forum. The refugee women revealed that they were given low-interest loans by the South Cross Business Trust to set up initiatives like a beauty salon and a traditional African cuisine outlet. But, some refugee women like Congolese Nancy Arubu revealed that her skills and qualifications as a physiotherapist were not recognized in South Africa. She also indicated that though she had been given a loan for an eatery, local authorities had not given her permission to set up the establishment since she did not possess an identity document. “I am legally allowed to work, yet the authorities say that I am not welcome to run my business after all. I feel disheartened,” she commented. The refugee forum was planning to hire a lawyer on behalf of Arubu. Project coordinator Angela Craig revealed that “women face the greatest hardships among refugees.” This initiative was unique in that it addressed questions of gender and focuses specifically on economic development training for women, including women refugees.

South Africa/Lesotho: News 24, Business Day, Sapa (Bloemfontein 06-23) report that two officers in charge of immigration from the Department of Home Affairs were arrested near the Lesotho border in Free State for assisting unauthorized migrants to enter the country. The first officer was apprehended after he allowed a citizen from Lesotho to enter South Africa without a valid passport. In the second incident, the official was held after allegedly accepting R20 from a Lesotho man holding an expired passport into South Africa. These arrests were made largely as the result of a joint operation carried out by the South African Police Services, SA Revenue Services and the Department of Home Affairs along the Lesotho-South African border. The team also arrested several citizens of Lesotho who were attempting to arrange their passage at Ficksburg into South Africa.

South Africa/Swaziland/Mozambique: Business Report, News 24, Sapa (06-23, 06-22) inform that South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland have signed a cross-border agreement to ‘tear down borders,’ and jointly promote the economic potential of conservation areas in the Lubombo region. This joint conservation management programme is expected to promote tourism in the area under the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area agreement (LTCA). The agreement will develop four areas in the three countries, including: the Lubombo Ponto do Ouro-Bay Marine and coastal areas; the Ndumo-Tembe-Futi-Mapto elephant reserves on the Mozambique-South African border; the Nsubane-Pongola area; and the Lubombo Conservancy-Hlane-Mlawula/Goba region on the border of Mozambique and Swaziland. The first phase of the project is to be completed by February 2001, and the three countries are also expected to improve the road network in the area. The national road linking Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal via Swaziland is to be upgraded, and a new road linking Durban and Maputo via the Maputoland coast is to be constructed as well. Mozambican Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Helder Muteia stated that a significant element of the agreement was to develop joint strategies for planning and development of areas extending across and beyond national borders.

South Africa: Business Day (06-23) reports that the exploitative relationship between farmers and farm workers is expected to come under increasing scrutiny as members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee visit farms in four provinces of Free State, North West Province, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal. Committee chairperson Phathekile Holomisa was expected to lead the delegation and visit areas from where unfair evictions of labourers had been reported. Similarly, Agri SA yesterday criticized these human rights violations, and warned errant farmers that members guilty of violating the rights of workers would be punished. Agri SA also urged affiliated unions not to accommodate such farmers. At the same time, however, Agri SA labour committee chairperson Pieter Erasmus revealed that the union was “thoroughly fed up with unsubstantiated allegations against some farmers by prominent politicians.”

South Africa: Dispatch Online (East London 06-23) reveals that Ifeanyi Joseph Ezibe, a so-called key player in the distribution of illegal drugs in South Africa and a member of a ‘local Nigerian syndicate’ was released by the district court on a R15, 000 bail. Members of the South African Narcotics Bureau (Sanab) and the police organized crime unit had apprehended Ezibe after a high-speed car chase in Beacon Bay in early June. Another member of the so-called Nigerian crime syndicate, Iky Ezeanya was arrested the same day for allegedly selling cocaine to an undercover officer shortly before his arrest. A third prominent member of the alleged Nigerian drug syndicate, Jonathan Boma, who had been arrested before Ezibe and Ezeanya remained in prison after his lawyer failed to appear in court.

South Africa: Independent Online (06-22) reports that former Jam Alley presenter Pushie Dunn who had been declared a prohibited migrant by the Department of Home Affairs and deported to Liberia at the beginning of this year married her South African partner in recent weeks, and has returned to the country. The Department had deported Dunn because they claimed that she had obtained her South African citizenship ‘illegally.’ Dunn’s recent marriage took place outside South Africa, following which she obtained a legal permit to stay in South Africa for a year. Home Affairs spokesperson Manase Makwela said that Dunn could stay in South Africa by virtue of her marriage to CCP Records MD Sean Watson. Makwela added that Dunn could apply for a permanent resident permit and a working permit within the stipulated 12-months period.

South Africa/Mozambique: Business Day (06-21) informs that since 1994 when Nelspruit became Mpumalanga’s capital, the local economy of Nelspruit has benefited enormously from improved relations with neighbouring Mozambique and international tourism. Located at a distance of about 200 kms from Maputo, hundreds of Mozambicans from Maputo flock in large numbers to Nelspruit to purchase goods at the new, up-market Riverside Mall, gamble at the Ermnotweni casino and visit medical specialists. The director of the Maputo Corridor Company Dave Arkwright said that in order to sustain this economic boom, Nelspruit had to seek more financial investment and set up strategic partnerships with Maputo. Since Mozambique’s economy had been devastated recently by floods, it had created the need for research and development functions, especially those linked to farming and secondary industries. Nelspruit, he recommended could provide this technological support, and could also offer water and electricity to Mozambique.

South Africa: Business Day (06-21) reveals that the South African parliament has passed the Identification Amendment Bill despite objections raised by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party had argued that the Department of Home Affairs lacked resources and staff to efficiently deliver the bar-coded identity documents to nearly 900,000 persons in South Africa. With this legislation, only the green bar-coded identity documents can be used in the forthcoming local government elections in November.

South Africa: Dispatch Online (Capetown 06-21) writes that during the debate on the Identification Amendment Bill, Democratic Party MP Mike Waters commented that the proposed smart card identification documentation system would burden the South African government with a bill of R3 billion. The Identification Amendment Bill is expected to legalize the new green bar-coded document, which will replace all other forms of identity documents. The bill was passed with the support of all parties with the exception of the Democratic Party. Waters said that the immediate result of the proposed bill would be that the 900,000 people without the bar-coded ID would “flood” the offices of Home Affairs to obtain these papers. He added that the new plan to introduce the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) at the end of next year should be assessed carefully in the light of the “challenges facing the country in regard to education, safety, security and welfare.”

South Africa: Dispatch Online (Queenstown 06-21) reports that some 253,000 persons have not as yet collected their identity documents from the offices of Home Affairs Department. The Department has urged people to collect their new identity documents before the local elections.

South Africa: Sowetan (06-21) editor(s) Aggrey Klaaste/Mike Siluma comment that the liberal constitution in democratic South Africa has yet to serious tackle the ‘major headache’ of international crime syndicates proliferating rapidly in the country. The government had not yet allocated sufficient resources and staff to control these criminals. As a result, South Africa’s ‘borders are like sieves’ and criminals are ‘pour[ing] into the country,’ Though the activities of these syndicates varied from drug trafficking, prostitution, and fake marriage certificates for undocumented immigrants, the latest case being investigated by the Department of Home Affairs involves Indians, Nigerian and Pakistani undocumented women migrants seeking employment in South Africa. The editor(s) recommend that the department should identify and expel corrupt government officials colluding with these syndicates. The government should also finalize immigration legislation, add the editor(s). The immigration policies have been revised “ad infinitum,” while “scoundrels are taking advantage of the loopholes.”

South Africa: Sapa (Pretoria 06-20) reports that on the occasion of the 26^th anniversary of African Refugee Day, Pan Africanist Congress foreign affairs spokesperson Mohau Pheko expressed concern over the three million refugees in the African continent, and urged social organizations to join governments in peace initiatives in the region. In a statement released in Pretoria, Pheko stated that “governments…have failed disastrously in preventing war and building peace.” Last week, UNHCR had released the latest estimates of asylum-seekers and displaced persons in Africa. In South Africa, more than 60,000 people had officially applied for refugee status by the end of April this year. Of these, only 15,000 had been given asylum by the Department of Home Affairs. The Pan Africanist Congress called for a “coherent refugee response system,” addressing the entire range of issues dealing with displacement, from early warnings of displacement as well as resettlement and integration of refugees in other countries. “The [SADC] countries cannot wish refugees away,” he commented, and suggested that national, provincial and local agencies had to be trained to deal effectively with refugees.

South Africa: Sowetan (06-20) writes that the Department of Home Affairs are investigating a marriage scam involving 2500 women and bogus agencies operating in the province of Gauteng, especially Johannesburg. It is believed that foreign nationals seeking permanent resident status had duped unsuspecting women to sign what they believed were employment contracts. Manase Makwela, spokesperson for Home Affairs said that the department was investigating 2652 cases of fake marriages, and many of those being investigated were Nigerian, Indian and Pakistani migrants.

South Africa: The Star (06-20) editor Peter Sullivan comments on Africa Refugee Day, and states that the increasing numbers of refugees in the African continent have “exhausted” the goodwill of international donors who are more willing to provide support to other affected areas like Kosovo and East Timor. Consequently, even though the numbers of refugees and displaced persons had swollen beyond 4 million and 15 million persons respectively, refugee agencies like the UNHCR had been forced to scale down their operations largely because of the paucity of funds. In the recent past, many African countries had “opened their arms to these outcasts.” But there were worrying signs that the feeling of generosity was decreasing rapidly. Asylum-seekers, therefore, presented an enormous challenge to the governments in Africa who needed to concentrate on promoting the “socio-economic development” of the continent, and ending the suffering of refugees.

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Dispatch Online (Johannesburg 06-19) says that Zimbabwean citizens who have sought refuge in South Africa to escape political violence in Zimbabwe are being sent back in small numbers by South African security forces. The article states that though the deportation of Zimbabweans continued to be a standard practice for police, Zimbabwean migrants had been expelled without being given the opportunity to apply for asylum in South Africa. On the other hand, police had maintained that migrants claimed that they had entered the country to seek employment instead of asylum. The police were also alleged to have deported Zimbabwean migrants under the terms of the restrictive Aliens Control Act, instead of the Refugee Act under which asylum seekers were allowed to claim refugee status in the country. Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi, police spokesperson for the Far North area stated that more than 1600 Zimbabweans had been deported from South Africa the previous week. Reacting to this news, Jody Kollapen with the South African Human Rights Commission said that the volatile political condition in Zimbabwe had complicated the issues of clandestine migration and refugee flows. Finally, Hennie Meyer, spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs stated that the department had not received additional applications for asylum from Zimbabweans.

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Sapa (Pretoria 06-19) writes that the Department of Home Affairs had denied press reports of an unprecedented ‘influx’ Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa. A spokesperson for the department Manase Makwela said that since 1994 only 26 Zimbabwean citizens had applied for asylum in the country. According to Makwela, Home Affairs deported nearly 180,000 undocumented immigrants each year, and of these 42,000 were Zimbabwean citizens. She said that many people migrated to South Africa because of economic and social compulsions rather than political persecution. Commenting on restrictions in the new Refugee Act that prevented asylum-seekers from working or studying in South Africa, Makwela said: “We cannot allow the refugee regime to be misused by economic migrants and criminal syndicates.” She said that the Department of Home Affairs had received 60,000 applications for asylum status from various countries in the past six years. “Adjudicating applications from such an array of states,” she said, “[wa]s a daunting challenge.”

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Sunday Times (06-18) reporter Jessica Bezuidenhout informs that the Muslim community of a Boland farming town are divided over their cleric Imam Aridwani Abubaker Msusa, who faces deportation to Zimbabwe. Msusa’s troubles began after two youths from the community claimed to see him soliciting a prostitute. Although Msusa was cleared of any misconduct after an investigation conducted by the congregation’s executive council, the Department of Home Affairs refused to extend Msusa’s work permit following the inquiry. His supporters have applied to the High Court for a review of his case, which is pending.

South Africa/Swaziland: City Press (06-18) reports that the Swazi ‘drug baron’ Ron Smith is going to challenge the South African police and the National Director of Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka in the High Court. He is expected to appeal against the decision of South African authorities to confiscate his assets worth R2 million, and bail conditions that prevent him from leaving South Africa. Smith was arrested in Durban sometime last year and his assets worth R1.9 million including furniture, luxury cars and other household items were held by the police. Smith revealed that his wife could not run his businesses alone in Manzini, Swaziland. “My absence is really having a negative effect on my businesses,” he said. Smith indicated that he would also claim damages from the South African government for detaining him in South Africa, and for not allowing him to return to Swaziland.

South Africa: City Press (06-18) reveals that residents of Crossroads celebrated Youth Day in their new homes this year. These former residents of squatters in Crossroads, and migrant laborers from Transkei and Ciskei were victims of pass laws and had been labeled as ‘illegal immigrants’ by successive apartheid regimes in South Africa. The migrant workers had left Langa, the oldest black township in Western Cape and had established squatter camps in Crossroads despite repeated attempts by the police and the powerful apartheid regime to remove them. In the late 70s and 80s, residents of Crossroads had launched a movement to abolish the discriminatory pass laws.

South Africa: Dispatch Online (Johannesburg 06-16) reports that 123 officers of the Department of Home Affairs have been prosecuted for corruption by the Anti-Corruption Unit in the past two years. The Anti-Corruption Unit was established in 1998 to tackle issues of corruption, including the aiding and abetting of undocumented immigrants by government officers.

South Africa: Independent News Online (06-16) While addressing a Youth Day Commemoration at the Moroka police station, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi sharply criticized the South African Human Rights Commission for its stand on the recent arrests of undocumented immigrants by the South African Police Services (SAPS). The police were accused of discriminating against “African brothers and sisters” who had provided refuge to members of ANC in exile, Selebi said. “How can we help Hillbrow victims if half the people there are undocumented. The HRC knows fokol (nothing) about human rights.” “What does race [have] to do with the [arrests]?” he further questioned. Selebi pointed out that the police were dealing with a difficult situation of spiraling crime rates, and were often able to trace perpetrators by physical samples like blood and hair. Siseko Njobeni, the HRC spokesperson said that they would not respond to Selebi’s “misleading and contemptuous statements,” and that the commission would stand by its views on human rights violations during recent anti-crime operations.

South Africa: Business Day (06-15) reports that Aubrey Mokeona, the Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs yesterday chastised the Home Affairs Director-General Ivan Lambinon for “smuggling” Mario Ambrosini, the special advisor to Home Affairs Minister Buthelezi into a committee meeting. The Department of Home Affairs was to brief the committee on the White Paper on International Migration. When Lambinon disclosed to the committee that Ambrosini would make the presentation, the chairperson said that Parliamentary committee expected a briefing from the Department of Home Affairs instead of the advisor. Mokeona also criticized the Department for presenting the draft bill on International Migration, while the committee was still in the process of hearings on the White Paper.

South Africa: Pretoria News (06-15) writes that there are currently approximately 60,000 asylum-seekers in South Africa. Out of these, 15,000 have been considered eligible for refuge but the numbers are expected to increase as conflicts intensify in different parts of the continent. Mengesha Kebede, the South African representative of UNHCR made this revelation in Pretoria on the occasion of Africa Refugee Day. The enduring solution to the rise in numbers of refugees, said Kebede, was to address the basic causes of these wars that forced people to migrate to South Africa.

Zambia/Angola: Angop, Pan African News Agency (Luanda and Lusaka 06-29, 06-28) report that Zambian and Angolan officers from the Departments of Security and Defence gathered recently in Lusaka to discuss issues of border security. The meeting was organized to establish mechanisms towards joint and effective control of the common border between the two countries. Frequent military incursions by Angolan rebels into Zambia of late have strained relations between the two countries. Officials from Zambia and Angola are expected to meet again later this year to review the progress of mechanisms set in place as a result of the Lusaka meeting.

Zambia/Angola: Channel Africa-SABC, IRIN (06-27) informs that the situation in Zambia’s Northwestern Province was tense and increasingly insecure as unidentified Angolan thugs continued to terrorize villagers in the areas around Chavuma. As a result, many local residents in these areas had abandoned their villages. According to Kiyoshi Nakamitsu, an assistant program officer for UNICEF, a joint assessment team of her organization and the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) of Zambia had identified and registered around 10,000 internally displaced persons or IDPs as of the middle of June from three villages in the region. The Angolan government’s current offensive against UNITA rebels was believed to have contributed to large numbers of Angolan refugees migrating to border villages in Zambia. UNITA rebels had been for the most part blamed for the current insurgency in the Northwestern Province but the Zambian government had blamed Angolan security forces for the new attacks. UNICEF had donated essential supplies including plastic sheets, blankets and medicines to the OVP to be distributed among the displaced persons. Many of these internally displaced persons had moved to interior areas away from the border to live with their relatives, instead of accommodation camps. Organizations like the UNHCR, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), WFP and the Zambian Red Cross were also assisting in helping these internal refugees. Finally, government authorities in Zambia and the UNICEF were preparing a new contingency plan to help displaced persons in case the situation deteriorated further in coming weeks.

Zambia: The Post of Zambia (06-27) reports that Zambian Attorney General’s office have directed the Woodlands police to provide compensation in the amount of K90 million to Aimable Niyigena, a Rwandan refugee in Zambia. The compensation was meant for the loss of business resulting from the police confiscation of Niyigena’s bus, and its disappearance shortly thereafter from the police station. However, speaking from the Meheba refugee centre in Solwezi, Niyigena revealed that despite the Lusaka High Court ruling, police and officials from the Ministry of Finance had not yet handed the compensation to him. The police impounded the minibus owned by Niyigena and another refugee on 30 July 1999, and even though the owners had paid the K54, 000 as a penalty for defective tires, the police had not released the minibus. The police later informed Niyigena that the bus had been stolen while being parked outside the police station. He revealed that the loss of the bus had resulted in untold suffering for his family, and they had to depend on the largesse of UNHCR in order to survive. “We are refugees, and we are innocent people; our human rights have been violated without any reason,” he said.

Zambia/DRC: Sunday Mail of Zambia (06-25) reveals that the Tchinsenda border post between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia will not be opened to Zambia. The province director of Katanga, Nyange Kangaza stated that the border could not be opened because of the conflict in DRC, and emphasized that opening the border could lead to insecurity in the area. Kangaza, who had been conducting a tour of border posts between the two countries, urged Congolese citizens to cultivate more food instead of crossing over to Zambia to purchase foodstuffs. Moreover, he asked Congolese people to emulate their Zambian counterparts, and produce more food. Mwape Mwengwe, a grade nine student at Tchinsenda’s Sakanya Secondary School requested Kangaza to open the border post so that the Congolese people in the area could trade with Zambia, and earn a living.

Zambia/Zimbabwe: Sunday Mail of Zambia’s (06-25) Kelvin Chongo reports that more than 50 Zimbabwean citizens fleeing their country for fear of election-related violence have arrived in Livingstone. These Zimbabweans included the son of Reverend Andrew Munkulu Odvianeeth, a strong supporter of Morgan Tsvangarai, and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Bornface Kapeso, Livingstone inspector of police confirmed the arrival of Zimbabweans, and revealed that Odvianeeth had been given asylum by Zambia. “We are, however, keeping him in the police cells waiting for the UNHCR officials to verify his information regarding his status,” Kapeso added. The local authorities are expecting the numbers of asylum-seekers to increase in the next few days. Meanwhile, the 50 odd Zimbabweans, who arrived recently in Livingstone consisted largely of women and children, many of whom spent the night in shop corridors. It is believed that these Zimbabweans had not reported to immigration authorities or the police in the area, and maintained that they were visiting Zambia for business-related matters. UNHCR officials, however, stated that they were willing to take care of the refugees, and though preparations had been made for around 10,000 refugees, they would accommodate up to 50,000 asylum-seekers.

Zambia/Zimbabwe: The Times of Zambia (06-23) John Ndoti reports that about 200 ‘jittery’ white Zimbabweans farmers have ‘trekked into’ Zambia in the past ten days, and were staying in lodges in the tourist town of Siavonga. Several farmers who spoke to this reporter anonymously revealed that they were looking into investment opportunities in Zambia, while others maintained that the uncertain and volatile situation in Zimbabwe had compelled them to seek refuge in this country.

Zambia: The Times of Zambia (06-23) informs that while touring the regions of Serenge and Chipilingu on the Zambia-Congo border near Ndola, Nyange Kangaza, the director of Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo warned Congolese soldiers against harassing local residents on both sides of the border. He assured the Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Arthur Yoyo in Sakania that stern action would be taken against Congolese soldiers who were caught ‘bullying’ ordinary citizens for food. During their tour of the region, Kangaza and Yoyo heard several accounts from villagers who indicated that soldiers were forcibly extracting money and maize from them. Two Zambian youths interviewed by Kangaza’s entourage revealed that they had been severely beaten by Congolese soldiers for playing music loudly. Zambian officials at the Sankania border reported that many Congolese citizens were ‘avoiding’ paying the visa fees by using bush paths to enter Zambian territory. But their Congolese counterparts argued that the visa fees being levied by Zambian immigration officials were too high for Congolese nationals wanting to cross into Zambia. Richard Bishiru, the Sankania district administrator in Congo maintained that many Congolese people crossed into Zambia on a regular basis to buy goods, and the high fees demanded by immigration authorities forced them to avoid the border posts. Bishiru revealed that the ‘difficult times’ being faced by DRC compelled some Congolese people to smuggle goods for sale into Zambia.

Zambia: The Daily Mail of Zambia (06-22) informs that the Zambian government was planning to cut the emoluments for Cuban doctors in the country so that their allowances would become equivalent to those received by local doctors. At present, senior Cuban doctors earn about 1500 US dollars while junior Cuban doctors receive a 1000 US dollars wage each month. In addition, Cuban doctors also enjoy other perks like free water and electricity, free transport back and forth from their place of employment, and free passage from Cuba. David Mpamba, the Zambian Health Minister yesterday announced that the government was in the process of re-negotiating the contract for Cuban doctors. “We know the Cuban doctors’ perks appear high. It is because they are pegged to the dollar…We cannot afford their current emoluments.” The Health Minister made this disclosure during the meeting of the 30^th Annual Council of the Churches Medical Association of Zambia. But Dr. Census Banda, general-secretary of the Resident Doctors Association of Zambia remarked that the government would lose the Cuban doctors if they scrapped their emoluments. “Let the government pay the locals like the Cuban doctors and they [will] attract even those who have left [the country],” he said.

Zambia: The Daily Mail of Zambia (06-16) political editor Justine Mwiinga argues that frequent detentions of genuine refugees, especially in areas like Lusaka give refugees little reason to celebrate Africa Refugee Day in Zambia. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there were around 15,000 refugees in Zambia’s urban areas. Though Zambia was a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees, the Zambian government had restricted the rights of movement and employment of refugees within the country. Several refugees interviewed for this article at the Commissioner for Refugees’ offices revealed that the fees for employment (K250, 000) and study permit (K100, 000) issued by the government cost “too [much] money.” “Imagine asking a person working as a store attendant or vegetable vendor…to pay K250, 000,” lamented a DRC refugee. Current regulations allowed refugees to move to urban areas only after obtaining a work or study permit from immigration authorities. Before 1999, refugees were allowed to reside in urban areas provided they had a valid refugee identity card, and could prove to the authorities that they had means of support. In 1999, refugees were asked to re-register to enable the government to maintain accurate estimates of asylum-seekers. But, it was reported that the government was trying to expel many refugees from urban areas, in order to control the large numbers of refugees entering the country. At present, though some categories of refugees, including students, professionals and traders were still eligible to stay in towns, immigration authorities often did not issue permits to refugees. The absence of permits often resulted in detention by police, a fact that worried Oluseyi Bajulaiye, regional representative for UNHCR. More than 30 refugees are presently languishing in detention centres, while two Congolese refugees died recently while in detention. Immigration spokesperson Danny Lungu said that refugees were a ‘unique class of aliens’ who needed permits to work or study in Zambia. He reiterated the Zambian government’s decision to ‘push back’ some refugees to control crime in towns, attributed largely to the presence of ‘aliens’. He also defended his department’s actions against refugees, and accused some of them of forging refugee identity cards, moving out from designated settlements, and posing as workers or students.

Zambia/Angola: News 24, Sapa-AFP (Lusaka 06-15) quoting Zambian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Machungwa suggests that a substantial number of Zambian villagers in the north-western province have been displaced from their homes due to continuing attacks by Angolans. Humanitarian workers of UNICEF revealed that more than 9000 persons had been forced to move as a result of the fresh incursions. The Zambian government had already sent relief, food and other basic necessities for the displaced Zambians through the office of Disaster Management Mitigation Unit (DMMU). Moreover, additional security personnel had been sent to the affected areas to protect citizens from attacks by Angolan ‘bandits’. Unidentified assailants from Angola had been entering west and northwestern Zambia, and stealing goods and domestic animals from local villages. The issue of border insecurity and persistent attacks by Angolans will be the subject of discussions later this month at the meeting on Zambia-Angola Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security. Zambia has blamed the Angolan government for these attacks but the Angolan government has denied the accusations.

Zimbabwe: The Financial Gazette (06-27) reveal that Zimbabwean government officials were finally expected to decide the case of the two Cuban doctors who attempted to claim refugee status at the Canadian High Commission in Harare a few weeks ago, and were apprehended shortly afterwards by Zimbabwean authorities. According to an unnamed senior diplomat, government officials had been busy with elections so far to pay attention to this case. Moreover, “a Cuban defection inside Zimbabwe [was] highly embarrassing,” especially since President Robert Mugabe enjoyed a close relationship with the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In the meanwhile, Leonel Cordova and Noris Pena Martinez have spent more than a month in a Harare prison. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was continuing to hold talks with the Zimbabwean authorities to secure the release of the two doctors and send them to a third country of asylum. Cordova and Martinez wished to seek asylum in Canada but the Canadian government had not yet commented on their asylum determination. On the other hand, the US government had expressed its keenness in allowing them entry into the country, and had accused Zimbabwe of violating international regulations dealing with asylum-seekers by illegally and indefinitely detaining the two Cubans. Zimbabwean government officials had maintained that the two doctors had not been charged with any offense, and had been kept in a prison due to shortage of accommodation. A doctor who recently examined Cordova and Martinez had revealed that although they were in good physical health but had “suffered severe trauma and psychological disturbances.”

Zimbabwe: The Daily News (06-26) narrates the case of Zimbabwean citizen Elizabeth Kenderjian, whose Lebanese husband is soon to be deported by Zimbabwean authorities for failing to declare his conviction for a murder committed in 1987 in his native country. Sarkis Hrant Kenderjian had been convicted and sentenced to a 15 years sentence in 1991 in the city of Borg-Hamoud, but was released in May 1995 after serving only half of his prison term. He entered Zimbabwe two years later on a visitor visa but failed to declare on the entry application that he had been convicted of any crime. Elizabeth Kenderjian had appealed against the decision of immigration authorities to deport Kenderjian in the Zimbabwean Supreme Court. Her lawyer Tendai Biti had argued that as per the right of freedom of movement in section 22 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, she was entitled to live in Zimbabwe with her ‘alien’ spouse despite the fact that he had been declared a ‘prohibited migrant.’ The Zimbabwean High Court had previously ruled in her favour. But Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay and fellow judges Nicholas McNally and Simbabrashe Muchechetere of the country’s Supreme Court turned down her appeal by stating that allowing Kenderjian to remain in Zimbabwe would set a ‘dangerous precedent.’ Gubbay observed that “alien[s] guilty of committing the most serious of crimes” would “rely upon” their marriage to a citizen of Zimbabwe to remain “beyond the reach of immigration officials".

Zimbabwe: The Daily News (06-26) reveals that nearly 500 white Zimbabweans left the country through the Forbes border post near Mutare in recent days to escape election-related violence. According to immigration officials at this border post, the border was busy with many families, mostly whites, eager to cross the checkpoint for Mozambique. Many Zimbabweans were traveling to Chimoio in Manica province and the port of Beira, and were expected to remain in these areas for at least two weeks.

Zimbabwe/Mozambique: Annanova (06-23) writes that a group of ‘embattled’ white Zimbabweans farmers are planning to move shortly to Mozambique after being offered large landholdings of about 10,000 acres in the central province of Manica. The Zimbabweans farmers were expected to arrive with a group of South African farmers at the end of June to cultivate crops and rear cattle on several hundred thousand acres of unused arable land. Felicio Zacarias, the governor of the province of Manica made this announcement to Radio Mozambique, and indicated that the farmers would cultivate the land allotted to them in different phases between Pungoe and Nhazonia rivers with a tenure right of fifty years.

Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwean Herald (Beitbridge 06-23) report that several hundred white Zimbabwean families left the country for neighbouring South Africa to escape the election-related violence. Immigration officials revealed that a majority of those who had left had British passports while others had Zimbabwean passports. The Principal Immigration Officer Dennis Chitsaka commented that many people were leaving with their children and entire family. “Most have withdrawn their children from school,” he maintained. A Zimbabwean resident leaving with his spouse and two children said: “I cannot run away from Zimbabwe…I am definitely coming back to live here.”

Zimbabwe/South Africa/Botswana: The Financial Gazette (Beitbridge 06-22) correspondent writes that hundreds of ordinary Zimbabwean citizens have been forced to migrate to neighboring countries including South Africa and Botswana to evade election-related violence in Zimbabwe. Local authorities in Gwanda, the provincial capital of Matabeleland South confirmed that several hundred people from Bulawayo and Matabeleland had crossed through Plumtree and Beitbridge into Botswana and South Africa this week. An unnamed senior police officer further revealed that many Zimbabweans were also deported back to their country during this period because they lacked the proper documents to stay in South Africa. The officer added that people were desperate to leave Zimbabwe, and many were risking their lives by crossing the crocodile-infested and high water levels of the Limpopo River. It is believed that some farm workers from the 1500 white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe were also leaving to escape the violence.

Zimbabwe/Botswana: News 24, Sapa-AFP, Channel Africa-SABC (Harare 06-22) writes that 200 residents the in Matabeleleland province have fled their villages and crossed into Botswana saying that they have been attacked by workers of the ruling Zanu-PF party. These refugees claimed that members of Robert Mugabe’s ruling party attacked local residents in order to identify supporters of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. Border guards in Botswana confirmed that scores of Zimbabweans were crossing into the country each day. One of the border guards told AFP that most Zimbabweans crossing into Botswana did not possess valid travel documents. In the 80s, the Botswana government had provided refuge to more than 300,000 Zimbabweans from Matabeleland.

Zimbabwe: Independent Newspapers Online (Harare 06-22) reveals that white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe under threat due to the occupation of their land by war veterans are now being pursued by other interested African countries. In the latest development, a report published by the Zimbabwean Commercial Farmers’ Union displayed advertisements by interested parties with large tracts of land in countries like Ghana and Uganda inviting Zimbabwean farmers to invest in commercial farms. One advertisement from Kampala read: “1000 acres of land available to anyone willing to migrate…Looking for farmers interested in joint ventures.”

Zimbabwe: Sapa (06-22) reports that while addressing a plenary session on land reform in Zimbabwe at the World Economic Forum’s annual Southern African Economic Summit in Durban, Mozambican President Joachim Chissano encouraged Zimbabwean farmers to set up new enterprises in Mozambique. Nearly 40 commercial farmers had already moved to Mozambique, Chissano told Sapa, and had been given fifty year leaseholds. They were expected to work with the local communities to boost agricultural production in the country. The resettlement of commercial farmers in Mozambique began a few years ago, when a group of South African farmers moved to this country. He said that Zimbabwean farmers were welcome to apply for land in Mozambique under the terms and conditions set by his government.

Zimbabwe: News 24, The Daily Star, Sapa-AFP (Harare 06-21) report that thousands of Zimbabweans have fled their homes after becoming targets of political attacks in recent days. Many displaced persons had sought shelter in safe-houses in cities and towns, while other had moved in with friends and relatives in urban areas after being harassed because they support opposition candidates for the general elections. According to human rights groups and social organizations, more than 6500 families had abandoned their rural homes after their villages were attacked, and houses burnt down. So far, the violence had been concentrated in many rural communities, though in recent days, some urban areas had been targeted as well. The numbers of displaced persons are expected to rise further in the next few days leading up to the elections. The opposition United Parties of Bishop Abel Muzorewa stated that it had been receiving displaced persons on a continual basis at its Harare office, and these people had been sent to transit houses in Harare. It is believed that teachers in rural communities had been especially vulnerable to attacks. It is also reported that several opposition candidates had left the country after receiving death threats, while others had been compelled to spend nights in the bush or hills.

Zimbabwe: Business Day (Harare 06-20) reports that “anxious white Zimbabweans [are] vot[ing] with their feet and flee[ing]” the country to escape violence leading up to the general elections. The government newspaper Sunday Mail had reported a few days ago that many white commercial farmers were “flocking out” of the country. Chief immigration officer in Zimbabwe, Ilasto Mugwadi stated that “at least 40 whites ha[d] left the country since February with 29 of them doing so permanently” for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. But an employee at the Air Zimbabwe office denied these reports, stating that there had been no extra flights. On the other hand, employees at a large local carrier maintained that “all flights were full.” He added that many of those who had left had gone to countries like Britain or Australia. Britain, for instance, had indicated earlier this month that they were prepared to take up to 20,000 white Zimbabweans as violence escalated in Zimbabwe. A white farmer interviewed by this paper at the Harare airport maintained that many people had left by car for South Africa, and that people were “buying up stocks of money to flee” the country. Tendai Nembire, a Zimbabwean police spokesperson said that nearly 3000 cars had been registered for foreign travel this year compared to 540 for the same period last year. Nembire added: “there are no problems from black foreigners as they are not panicking.”

Zimbabwe/South Africa: Sunday Times (Messina and Harare 06-18) reporters Alpheus Siebane and Mondli Makhanya write that large numbers of Zimbabweans are ‘flooding’ into South Africa to escape political violence before the country’s general elections. Earlier this week, South African soldiers and police apprehended and deported nearly 1600 Zimbabweans who had ‘illegally’ crossed the Limpopo River into South Africa. It was reported that the police had picked up about 15 to 20 unauthorized migrants from Zimbabwe on an everyday basis. Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi, a police spokesperson for the Far North area said that there had been a “massive increase” in the numbers of Zimbabweans arrested for ‘illegal’ entry into South Africa in recent days. The reporters stated that many refugees had risked their lives by swimming across the swollen Limpopo River or had used logs as makeshift rafts. One person had been drowned in the process, while crocodiles had attacked several other undocumented migrants. Many Zimbabweans had also been robbed by maguma-guma – gangs of Zimbabwean ‘thugs’ preying on those wanting to cross the border. The Sunday Times reporters interviewed several undocumented Zimbabwean migrants this week many of whom claimed to be staunch supporters of the opposition party – Movement for Democratic Change. They said that they had fled their homes after being attacked by supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Zimbabwe/Zambia: Africa News Online, Panafrican News Agency (Chirundu 06-18) referring to Zimbabwean immigration authorities, write that many white farmers were seeking shelter in neighboring countries fearing more violence during the elections next week. Ilasto Mugwadi, the Chief Immigration Officer said that large numbers of white farmers had migrated on a temporary basis to Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. At the same time, 27 farmers permanently left the country in recent weeks with their families to settle in other countries, especially areas where local governments had provided them with large plots of arable land. Immigration officers at the border town of Chirundu near Zambia disclosed that several farmers had moved with their farm equipment and animals to settle in Zambia, which has large tracts of unused fertile land. An officer at the border post said: “they say they are farming on the other side. We have seen them taking their workers from here to the new properties.”

Zimbabwe: News 24 (06-18) write that as per the South African police and military, recent media reports that thousands of Zimbabwean citizens are leaving the country and fleeing to South Africa are “really untrue”. This was confirmed by UNHCR as well, who disclosed that they had not yet received a single request for asylum from any Zimbabwean citizen. Col. Tol Snyman, commander of the defence force joint task team in Soutpansberg said that “about a thousand” Zimbabweans entered South Africa ‘illegally’ on a regular basis to seek employment. Many of the illegal entrants were deported on a frequent basis, and his team had deported similar numbers in the last few weeks.

Zimbabwe: Sunday Times (Harare 06-18) reports that human rights groups and non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe fear a ‘flood’ of internal refugees as large numbers of people flee the countryside fearing election-related violence. It has been revealed that more than 12,000 persons had already been displaced from homes since violence began a few months ago. Nearly half of those who had fled were teachers, and many rural schools have as a result remained empty for several weeks. These ‘refugees’ had been provided shelter in ‘safe houses’ instead of large-scale camps to prevent additional violence. This week, identity documents of people suspected of being supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were also confiscated. David Chimani, the director of Zimrights said that Zimbabwe could soon face a “major crisis” with refugees especially since human rights groups and NGOs lacked the resources and expertise to cope with large numbers of displaced persons.

Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe Mirror (06-16) informs that the Zimbabwean government headed by Robert Mugabe will order High Court judges who have retained their British citizenship to take early retirement “but with full pension.” Mugabe made this announcement in a wide-ranging interview reported in The London Independent. This announcement followed this newspaper’s report that six judges might have lost their Zimbabwean citizenship for failing to renounce their British nationality. It is believed that these judges had renounced their British citizenship according to Zimbabwean law, but had failed to do the same as per the UK Nationality Act of 1981. In the meantime, it was believed that Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay has written to the Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa indicating that Zimbabweans of British origin who had renounced their British citizenship as per Zimbabwean law should “remain citizens of Zimbabwe and [be] entitled to travel on Zimbabwean passports.” In a related development, High Court Judge President Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku dismissed the Movement for Democratic Change’s application relating to the voting rights of some 86,000 dual Zimbabwe/British citizens. He commented that the “ridiculously clumsy” draftsmanship of legislation was to blame for the citizenship controversy and asked the legislature to re-draft the said sections of legislation. The British embassy in Zimbabwe declined to comment on the dual citizenship controversy brewing in Zimbabwe. “It is not up to the British government to comment on or act as an enforcer of others’ nationality laws,” a high-ranking embassy official said.

Zimbabwe: Sapa-AFP, News 24 (Harare, 06-16) reports that according to the Zimbabwean High Court, Zimbabwean of British ancestry would be eligible to vote in the upcoming general elections to be held in the country. Judge Godfrey Chidyausiku said that the law on citizenship was “nonsensical” and “subversive,” but declined to make a ruling on it until the disputed sections had been redrafted by the legislature. The government had earlier determined that 86,000 white Zimbabweans with dual citizenship would not be allowed to vote in these elections. According to Tendai Biti, lawyer for the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that is supported by many whites, the absence of a clear decision by the judiciary meant that people with dual nationality were indeed eligible to exercise their vote. “It is victory in a way. They won their right and will vote,” he said. Biti pointed out that other people who held dual nationality in other countries like Malawi or Zambia would also be eligible to vote.

Zimbabwe: Africa News Online, Financial Gazette (06-15) write that the controversy over the two dissident Cuban doctors who sought refugee status at the Canadian embassy in Harare recently has taken a new turn. The Zimbabwean government has sent the doctors to Goromonzi prison because they do not have alternate accommodation for the asylum-seekers. Dominic Bartsch, spokesperson for the UNHCR office in Lusaka said that the agency had agreed to the two doctors being held at Goromonzi, but added that “there is nothing much we can do before they are released” from government custody. UNHCR was now working to “negotiate their release.” UNHCR’s representative John Bulaiye left for Harare yesterday to meet with government officials and secure the release of the two doctors.

Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe Independent (Harare, 06-15) reporter Abbey Makoe conducted a rare interview with Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe. Mugabe said that whites in Zimbabwe should “become true citizens”. “Right now, some of them aren’t [citizens]. We have Britons – people with two citizenships. They are Zimbabweans on the one hand and British on the other. We just want mono-citizenship. That’s the law.”

Zimbabwe: Africa News Online, IRIN (06-14) write that the UNHCR is trying to locate a third country for the two Cuban defectors after the Cuban government denounced the actions of the two doctors as a “shameful disgrace.” The Cuban government also made it clear that the doctors were free to go anywhere they wished provided they did not accept asylum from the United States. The UNCHR spokesperson confirmed that the two refugees continued to be detained by Zimbabwean authorities.

Zimbabwe: Independent News Online, Sapa-AP (06-14) reports that the United States spokesperson Philip Reeker has said that the US government has not yet received a satisfactory answer from Zimbabwe regarding the ‘illegal detention’ of two Cuban asylum-seekers. Last week, an Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) official had interviewed the two doctors following which the country had agreed to provide the doctors refuge in the U.S. But, Zimbabwean authorities had refused to release the two doctors to US authorities in Harare.

Zimbabwe/Botswana: Botswana Daily News Online, BOPA (06-12) write that Zimbabwean nationals are crossing in large numbers into Botswana at the Ramokgwebana border post, including several on foot, to purchase petrol in Botswana due to acute shortage of petrol in their country. The principal customs officer at the Ramokgwebana border post Balisi Malau said that he had seen long queues of Zimbabwean registered vehicles waiting for petrol on the Botswana side. Botswana officials do not charge custom duties for goods leaving Botswana. But, Ephraim Maesa, a Zimbabwean from Plumtree, informed BOPA that Zimbabwe customs officials impose some 200 Zimbabwean dollars import duty on each twenty litres of petrol imported into the country.

Updated 27 September 2000

Migration News - June 2000

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