NATIONAL REFUGEE POLICY LAUNCHED TO ALLEVIATE CHALLENGES IN MANAGING REFUGEES-MWIIMBU

“This policy and implementation plan will improve refugee reception, admission and management systems and it will strengthen the civil registration and documentation system for refugees children born in Zambia,”

By Daily News Reporter

The Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Jack Mwiimbu says the National Refugee Policy and Implementation Plan will help alleviate the challenges faced in managing refugees and Persons of Concern (POCs).

Mr Mwiimbu said the government will continue to make strides in contributing to the fight against forced displacements and its causes.

The government has started engaging financial institutions to help refugees with capital for them to facilitate various economic and productive activities.

And a good number of refugees are currently contributing to Zambia’s economic affairs through their businesses which have also employed some Zambians.

He has also disclosed that the government is considering incorporating some refugees into the farmer input support program-FISP as well as providing other social security services as they integrate with their host communities.

He was speaking in Lusaka at the launch of the first ever National Refugee Policy and Implementation Plan.

He added that the country had a history of hosting refugees as far back as the 1940s and since then, the country has maintained an open door policy and has seen a steady increase in refugees entering the country seeking asylum.

“It is only suitable then that this increase in refugees as well as the maintenance of the open door policy has a comprehensive legal system in place to support the provision of quality essential services and protection to displaced persons,” he added.

He reaffirmed the government's commitment to ensuring that refugees and other POCs have equitable access to quality services and protection.

“The country is a party to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa, the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants of 2016 and the Global Compact on Refugees,” Mwiimbu said.

He said it is important that the country puts in place a policy framework that actualizes international commitments and best practices to adequately assist refugees.

And speaking at the same event, Commissioner for Refugees Professor Prosper Ng'andu said the objective of the policy is to promote coexistence of POCs and the host community, to strengthen access to durable solutions among others.

“This policy and implementation plan will improve refugee reception, admission and management systems. It will strengthen the civil registration and documentation system for refugees, improve the access of POCs and refugees to justice and reduce the risk of statelessness, especially among refugee children born in Zambia,” Prof. Ng'andu added.

Meanwhile, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Country Representative Preeta Law said the National Refugee Policy reflects the hospitality and generosity that Zambia has long provided to refugees and POCs.

“Through this policy, Zambia is making a big contribution to the global effort to implement the approach affirmed by United Nations member states in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR),” Ms. Law added.

Ms. Law also said Zambia's new policy is a reflection of the concerted will of the government to create an enabling protection environment for refugees to attain solutions, flourish and fully contribute to Zambian society.

She further disclosed that UNHCR will support the government to harmonize the regulatory framework as early as possible to remove the barriers affecting forcibly displaced persons that have been identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, and its stakeholders.

Zambia currently hosts over 95, 500 refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in Maheba, Mayukwayukwa, and Mantalapala refuge settlements as well as in urban areas like Lusaka.