By a Correspondent
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has identified Lake Kariba as an emerging route of concern for irregular migration, migrant smuggling and trafficking, amid growing questions over border surveillance along the vast waterway.
IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission Diana Cartier said Lake Kariba was potentially attractive to people involved in irregular migration because of limited maritime security and monitoring along parts of the lake.
“We know the route is there. We know it’s an easy and accessible route due to lack of coast guards along Lake Kariba,” Cartier said during a UN media engagement in Harare.
Her remarks come weeks after the Mbuya Nehanda ferry disaster, which claimed 97 lives on August 11 after the vessel capsized while travelling from Kariba towards Chalala. The ferry was designed to carry 90 passengers but was found to have been carrying substantially more people when it went down.
The disaster also generated reports about the possible presence of undocumented foreign nationals aboard the ferry, including claims that Somali nationals were among the passengers.
Some unsubstantiated reports alleged that as many as 10 undocumented Somali nationals had been travelling on the ferry and that some may have survived the disaster before disappearing. The reports raised questions about passenger documentation, border controls and whether the lake could be used as a route for irregular movement between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
However, the Zimbabwe Republic Police later said investigations had found no evidence supporting claims that Somali nationals survived the ferry disaster and subsequently disappeared.
Cartier said IOM was working with local authorities to assess reports concerning the use of the Kariba route and determine measures required to reduce the risks associated with irregular migration, smuggling and trafficking.
She said the issue extended beyond individual incidents, with trafficking and smuggling networks becoming increasingly sophisticated in their use of technology and coordination.
The IOM chief said the absence of adequate maritime surveillance could make the lake vulnerable to exploitation by criminal networks seeking alternative routes to established land crossings.
She said the United Nations and the Zimbabwean Government were discussing ways of strengthening monitoring along Lake Kariba to prevent the waterway from becoming an increasingly important alternative route for irregular migration.
An IOM research assessment on irregular migration in southern Africa has previously documented accounts of migrants using lakes, including Lake Kariba, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, as illegal border-crossing routes or to avoid police checkpoints. The assessment also examined the movement of Ethiopians and Somalis through the region.
Cartier also called for greater attention to the reintegration of Zimbabweans returning from other countries, saying support programmes should take into account migrants’ skills and the economic needs of communities receiving them.
She said employment and skills-development initiatives should be linked to local opportunities rather than automatically returning migrants to their communities of origin without considering whether they can find sustainable livelihoods there.
The IOM chief further urged the media to avoid narratives that stigmatise returnees by automatically associating them with crime, HIV and AIDS or other social problems.
Instead, she said returning migrants should be viewed as people who can bring skills, experience and economic opportunities to the communities where they settle.
