UNHCR Submission on Zambia : UPR 28th Session
Published: 1/Mar/2017
Source: UNHCR
Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees For the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Compilation Report
Universal Periodic Review: 3rd Cycle, 28th Session
ZAMBIA
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Zambia succeeded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (hereinafter jointly referred to as the 1951 Convention) in 1969. Zambia ratified the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (the 1969 OAU Convention) in 1973. Zambia succeeded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention) in 1974. However, Zambia is not party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention).
The 1970 Refugee Control Act is the main domestic legislation regulating asylum in Zambia. The 1970 Refugee Control Act is currently under review, and a revised Bill has been drafted for submission to Parliament in 2017.
As of January 2017, Zambia hosted 57,523 persons of concern originating from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Somalia, Uganda, Angola and Rwanda. The Government of Zambia has offered legal and socio-economic local integration to all former Angolan refugees who arrived in the country until 2003. In October 2015, the Government also agreed to offer local integration to approximately 4,000 former Rwandan refugees who ceased to be refugees due to the application of the cessation clause in 2013. In order to acquire a resident permit and legally integrate in Zambia, former refugees must have a national passport. This is a challenge for former Rwandan refugees who refuse to request passports because of an alleged fear of continued persecution.
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