Staff writer
THE Zimbabwe Red Cross Society through its Restoring Family Links (RFL) initiative has braced up for the hectic and busy festive season as the number of migrants seeking to reconnect with their missing relatives has sharply increased.
Such areas as Harare road port, Bulawayo, Beitbridge, Plumtree, Tongogara Refugee Camp and Zaka where Red Cross set up interactive kiosks for migrants to access free humanitarian information and services to restore and maintain contact with their families are already a hive of activity, according to ZRCS secretary general Elias Hwenga
However, Hwenga said two entry ports, the Beitbridge and Plumtree border posts are the busiest of all following that sharp rise in traffic as most Zimbabweans flock back to the country.
“A significant rise in the number being handled per day at the Beitbridge post has been pegged at slightly over 1000 migrants while Plumtree, is expected to handle between 450 to 500. At the Bulawayo kiosk, the number has shot up from 30 per day to 50,” Hwenga said.
He said Zimbabwe is home to more than 22 000 refugees and asylum seekers where just over 15 000 of these reside in Tongogara refugee camp and the remaining population lives in urban centres, mainly Harare and Bulawayo.
Hwenga further indicated that the migrants consist of more than 10 nationalities which include Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Mozambique.
“Due to political and civil unrest, in their home countries, the migrants flee without getting a chance to notify their loved ones. Enroute to places of safety, they are faced with various challenges that not only infringe their human rights but also put their lives in danger. This results in family separation and in worst cases, loss of lives.
“The country is also a major sending country to South Africa as well as a corridor for migrants in transit. Due to the quest for greener pastures and desperation for personal economic development, the migrants usually have neither proper travelling documents nor properly defined destinations.
“The migrants often take life threatening risks by using dangerous routes. Consequently, this leads to family separation and loss of lives as well. Plumtree and Beitbridge border posts continue to receive deported Zimbabwean nationals from Botswana and South Africa,” the Red Cross secretary general explained.
Hwenga said on a monthly average, Botswana deports -+350 Zimbabweans whilst South Africa can go up to -+500. Usually +80% of these are men between 20 to 40 years of age who cross the border illegally to look for greener pastures as breadwinners.
“In Beitbridge, there are cases of UCs who are smuggled by ‘malayitshas’ (illegal cross border transporters) and when they are caught, the minors are left in custody of the Department of Social Development and require family tracing and other RFL services. Most of these children will be going to their parents in South Africa over school holidays. To raise awareness the RFL teams take advantage of national events and disseminates as well as offering services to migrant communities.
“For example Plumtree volunteers managed to reach out to more than 300 people through information dissemination at the Independence Day celebrations. The team was also able to offer over 100 local phone call services to the beneficiaries during the dissemination. During the quarterly monitoring mission, +-500 primary school children were reached out to as well
“The Beitbridge team managed to address approximately 4 000 people about RFL services and the Redsafe app during the NSSA celebrations.
It is against this background that ZRCS continues to advocate for more partnerships and collaborations which will help ease the overwhelming workload,” he further noted.
