SYDNEY SAIZE RECENTLY AT TONGOGARA
Hordes of refugees at Tongogara Refugee Camp, located about 200km east of city of Mutare are appealing for national identity cards and other documentation to facilitate the smooth flow of their businesses and furthering their education.
The refugees told the Business Times during the recent International Refugee Day commemoration that lack of identity documents was hindering their pursuit in education and business.
Manuel Tshishinga from the DRC said he was worried that he does not have an identity document yet he is due to sit for his Ordinary Level examinations.
Tshishinga said the document is key for his sitting.
“As you know, IDs are important for registration. As refugees most of us here do not have those papers. Our appeal is that we be assisted in getting them for ease of our registration as candidates for O’ Level and A’ Level,” Tshishinga said.
Another refugee Putmathi Gabriella from Rwanda said he was into business but was finding it difficult to travel to procure stocks for his shop at the refugee camp since he does not have the papers.
“Being a small businessman I find it hard to restock since I need to travel to restock. The big problem is I do not have an ID. As it stands I face the challenge of getting into the police asking for identification at times.
“We are grateful that camp officials give us permits to travel, however the IDs would lessen the burden of being given such passes each and every time one has to get out of the camp,” Gabriella said.
He said it was also a tall challenge to access small business loans from financial institutions if one does not have identification.
Speaking on the side-lines of the event guest of honour on the day Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Paul Mavima promised to take the issue further with relevant ministries.
“We said we are going to talk to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage so that it can assist the refugees here who want to get birth certificates and any other identity documents to make sure their officers come to this place and at specific times to give them these documents. This would lessen the burden of them travelling far to acquire such documents,” Mavima said.
Tongogara Refugee Camp was established by the government in the early 1980s to accommodate Mozambican refugees and asylum seekers fleeing the Frelimo-Renamo conflict.
Today the Camp is home to more than 15 000 foreigners mostly from the DRC, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda among other countries, accounting to about 3 290 households as of March 2022 statistics.
Since then the camp has become a cosmopolitan village providing haven to persons of different parts of Africa.
In an effort to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 4), Tongogara Refugee Camp partners worked together to establish a well-resourced Early Childhood Development Centre, a primary and secondary school.
The facilities have provided unrestricted access to asylum seekers and refugees in the settlement.
Children from the host community are also enrolled at the primary and secondary schools.
Refugees and asylum seekers study the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council curriculum and receive certification from the national examination body.
