Free & safe movement in Southern Africa: Report to inform advocacy promoting safe and unencumbered movement of people across Southern Africa’s international borders Conducted by the African Centre for Migration & Society University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg on behalf of The Open Society Foundation Contributors: Loren B Landau Jean Pierre Misago Nassim Majidi Andonis Marden Aditya Sarkar Jabulani Mathebula Brian Murahwa Iriann Freemantle Version 2: Not for Citation (20 June 2018) Contents Tables ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Southern African synthetic report .................................................................................................................. 4 Executive summary .............................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Geographic scope .......................................................................................................................... 17 Methods and data sources ........................................................................................................... 17 Overview of the regional migration regime ........................................................................................ 18 Regional level challenges and opportunities ...................................................................................... 22 Obstacles to safe and free movement ................................................................................................ 23 Lack of coherent regional migration regime ................................................................................. 23 Lack of coherent national migration policies ................................................................................ 24 Limited freedom of movement within and from host countries .................................................. 26 Limited opportunities for permanent settlement ........................................................................ 28 Weak governance and administrative capacity ............................................................................ 29 Limited or lack of portability of social security benefits ............................................................... 30 Xenophobic exclusion: Communities as space of immigration control ........................................ 31 Administrative obstacles in countries of origin ............................................................................ 33 Limits of migration policies and laws: Laws and policies do not guarantee protection ............... 34 The Lesotho Special Case .............................................................................................................. 36 Opportunities for safe and free movement in the region? ................................................................. 37 National migration policy frameworks ......................................................................................... 37 Bilateral agreements ..................................................................................................................... 37 New initiatives .............................................................................................................................. 38 South Africa case study ................................................................................................................................ 39 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Research sites background information ............................................................................................. 39 Rosettenville ................................................................................................................................. 39 Komatipoort .................................................................................................................................. 40 Primary findings and conclusions ....................................................................................................... 40 Migrants’ lived experiences: When law and polices do not matter .................................................... 42 Restrictions on freedom of movements, unlawful arrests, prolonged detentions and deportations .................................................................................................................................. 42 Access to legal protection and representation ............................................................................. 46 Access to documentation.............................................................................................................. 47 Access to education ...................................................................................................................... 50 Access to health care .................................................................................................................... 52 Access to the labour market ......................................................................................................... 54 Xenophobia and outsider exclusion: Communities as zones of immigration control .................. 55 Conclusions and summary ................................................................................................................. 58 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 59 References ......................................................................................................................................... 64 Annex 1: Table on legal and policy frameworks ............................................................................................ 67 OSF-Free Movement (20 June 2018) | 2 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 67 Limitations ......................................................................................................................................... 67 Structure ............................................................................................................................................ 68 Section I: Global Instruments ............................................................................................................. 68 Section II: AU Instruments and policies .............................................................................................. 69 Section III: SADC Instruments and National laws and policies ............................................................. 74 Botswana ........................................................................................................................................... 79 South Africa ....................................................................................................................................... 83 Zambia ............................................................................................................................................... 95 Zimbabwe ........................................................................................................................................ 101 Lesotho ............................................................................................................................................ 106 Swaziland ......................................................................................................................................... 111 Mozambique .................................................................................................................................... 116 Uganda ............................................................................................................................................ 123 Rwanda ............................................................................................................................................ 131 Appendix I: References .................................................................................................................... 139 Tables Table 1: Status of New Migration Policy Developments as of 2018 ...................................................... 25 OSF-Free Movement (20 June 2018) | 3 Southern African synthetic report Executive summary Due to its relative political stability and strong economic position in the continent, Southern Africa region continues to experience a significant rise in mixed and irregular migration, labour migration and displacement due to conflict and natural disasters. As regional migration grows and diversifies, authorities face a challenging task of formulating and implementing regional, national, and local mobility governance regimes balancing migrant protection with the sovereign interests of states, their citizens and those of other non-state actors. This report presents findings of a comparative research whose aim is to identify challenges and opportunities for