Botswana presents unique migration challenges and opportunities owing to its small population size, geography, growing urban population, and the porosity of its border areas. As a land locked country covering an area of 582 000sqkm it shares borders with Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Historically, migration in Botswana has been characterized by male migrant workers going south to work in the mines in South Africa, and an influx north of politically active black South Africans fleeing the apartheid regime, seeking refuge in Botswana. More recently, Botswana has become a transit country for documented and irregular migrants trying to reach South Africa, a source country for skilled, semi and unskilled labour, and a destination country for all the various migrant types, including asylum seekers, economic migrants, tourists, students and victims of trafficking. The country has also been experiencing very high levels of rural-urban migration internally, resulting in the rapid expansion of the main cities of Gaborone and Francistown. The growing migrant population also increases the “population denseness” of these cities as they are both centers of work, they also form an integral part of the road network that links Zambia and Zimbabwe to South Africa. The Trans –Kalahari transport Corridor, a jointly funded and managed tarred road and rail network spanning Namibia, Botswana and South Africa covers a stretch of 1900km, and links the Namibian port of Walvis Bay with Gauteng Province (RSA), via Botswana. This transport Corridor, meant to facilitate trade among and through the three countries, also acts as a main route for migratory movements seeking opportunities resulting from the movement of goods and services.
Against this background, the Government of Botswana (GoB) has requested IOM’s assistance in the development of a specific national migration policy. The development of a migration policy is a specific objective identified in the current National Development Plan (NDP 10), which enters its final year of implementation in 2016. The policy development process sits with the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA) which is also home to the Gender Affairs Department (GAD) who are tasked with advancing gender issues in Botswana. The proposal is to establish an inter-Ministerial technical committee with representation from different government departments, including GAD and other key actors, which will be supported by a steering committee sitting in the Immigration and Citizenship department in MLHA. The steering committee will be tasked with the day to day activities of the policy development process.
IOM will provide guidance and technical support to enhance capacity in order to better prepare the relevant stakeholders to draft a comprehensive and evidence-based policy document in accordance with regional and international standards. This will include a brief study on the issues and dynamics around migrant smuggling and trafficking in Botswana, in preparation for the implementation of the draft national anti-human trafficking legislation that is near finalization. The research will also look at the gender dynamics prevalent in Botswana, how it relates to migration, and make solid recommendations on how these can be considered and reflected in the policy development process. It is expected that the national migration policy will enhance coordination at the different levels of government around the four pillars of migration management: migration and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration, and forced migration. Guidance will also be drawn from the African Union’s (AU) migration policy framework document, as well as the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) draft Protocol on the Facilitated Movement of Persons.
Project activities will include: the realization of a brief research that will map key stakeholders and their capacities and needs, resources available, as well as organize a comparative literature and policy analysis on countries with similar migration contexts and issues; extensive capacity building for the inter-Ministerial committee through a series of migration management workshops, and exposure to implemented best policy practices; the facilitation of multi-disciplinary technical consultation and validation meetings; technical support for the drafting of the policy through regular technical meetings; and participation in a national public consultation.
This 18-month IDF project is expected to substantially facilitate the development of specific projects and fundraising to follow up on the roll out and accompany the implementation of the new national migration policy including any new border management areas identified that require inputs and interventions