Countries Struggling with Migrants – IOM Report

Zimbabwean migration blurs the line between refugees and economic migrants, according to a report by the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The study looks into the official responses to Zimbabwean migration in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique and found that they failed to take this distinction into account.

"They [Zimbabwean migrants] can be termed 'forced humanitarian migrants' who move for the purpose of their and their dependants' basic survival. Currently only recognised refugees and asylum seekers qualify for humanitarian assistance and legal protection from a host state," says the report.

To read the article titled, “Southern Africa struggling with Zimbabwe migrants,” click here.