Date of publication:

10/12/2026

Zambia

Do domestic laws and policies provide for the exclusion from refugee status who are deemed ‘undeserving’ of international protection as refugees? 

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Zambia adheres to multiple international conventions and treaties that outlaw the crime of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including the Rome Statute. The 2017 Refugees Act at section 2 adopts the definitions of “crime against peace”, “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” from the Rome Statute in conformity with article 1F(a) 1951 Refugee Convention.

The criteria for excluding a person from refugee status are set out under section 14(1) 2017 Refugees Act, which establishes the grounds on which a person seeking international protection can be excluded. It provides as follows:

“The Commissioner shall exclude a person or asylum seeker from recognition of refugee status under this Act if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person or asylum seeker—
(a) has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity;
(b) has committed a serious non-political crime outside Zambia before that person’s arrival in Zambia;
(c) has engaged in subversive acts against any State; […]
(e) is a combatant or continues to take part in armed activities; and
(f) has committed acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations or the African Union”.

Section 14(1)(a), (b) and (f) 2017 Refugees Act set out the situations in which persons are not deserving of refugee protection. These paragraphs are meant to exclude from refugee status perpetrators of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity. Furthermore this includes persons who have committed serious non-political common crimes or who are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations or the African Union before entering Zambia, meaning, prior to seeking asylum. Such persons are considered undeserving of refugee protection by the government of Zambia in line with article 1F(a), (b) and (c) 1951 Refugee Convention, which are also partly reflected in article I(5) 1969 OAU Refugee Convention. Section 14(1)(c) 2017 Refugees Act excludes asylum seekers, who engage in subversive acts against any State, as undeserving of international protection. Article III 1969 OAU Refugee Convention requires every refugee to abstain from any subversive activities against an OAU member State. However, article III 1969 OAU Refugee Convention does not provide for refugees engaging in subversive activities to be excluded as undeserving of international protection. Section 14(1)(c) 2017 Refugees Act is therefore not in line with international law, since Zambia could prohibit refugees from engaging in subversive activities and enforce such a prohibition accordingly. 

Section 14(1)(e) 2017 Refugees Act excludes combatants or persons taking part in armed activities from refugee status. Although this provision aims at preserving the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, it is not in line with the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention and UNHCR’s guidance on the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, inter alia recognized in the ExCom Conclusion No. 94 (LIII) of 2002. States have the mandate to enforce the civilian character of asylum and should therefore identify, disarm, separate and intern combatants or persons taking part in armed activities from the civilian population. Only after genuine renunciation of armed activities can the asylum claim of former combatants be processed. However, being excluded from refugee status due to being a combatant or taking part in armed activities is not in line with the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention as States have other obligations regarding combatants and are supposed to assess the asylum claim of former combatants, where they might be found undeserving of international protection based on the exclusion grounds under article 1F 1951 Refugee Convention or article I(5) 1969 OAU Refugee Convention.

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees

    Legal provision

    Article 1(F) - Definition of the term "refugee"

    F. The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: (a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; (b) he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; (c) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

    Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa

    Legal provision

    Article 1(5) - Definition of the term "Refugee"

    5. The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom the country of asylum has serious reasons for considering that: (a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; (b) he committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; (c) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the Organization of African Unity; (d) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

    THE REFUGEES ACT, 2017

    Legal provision

    Section 2(1) - Interpretation

    "crime against peace" means an act relating to the planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements and assurances on peace, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of these acts; "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population: (a) murder; (b) extermination; (c) enslavement; (d) deportation or forcible transfer of population; (e) imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; (f) torture; (g) rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; (h) persecution against an identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds that are universally recognised as impermissible under international law, in connection with an act referred to in this definition; (i) enforced disappearance of persons; (j) the crime of apartheid; or (k) other inhuman acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to the body or to mental or physical health; "war crimes" means grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August, 1949, such as— (a) wilful killing; (b) torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; (c) wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; (d) extensive destruction and appropriation of property, which is not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; (e) compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power; (f) wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; (g) unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; and (h) taking of hostages.

    Section 14 - Exclusion or refusal to grant recognition as refugee

    14. (1) The Commissioner shall exclude a person or asylum seeker from recognition of refugee status under this Act if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person or asylum seeker— (a) has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or crime against humanity; (b) has committed a serious non-political crime outside Zambia before that person's arrival in Zambia; (c) has engaged in subversive acts against any State; (d) is receiving protection or assistance from an agency of the United Nations, other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; (e) is a combatant or continues to take part in armed activities; and (f) has committed acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations or the African Union. (2) Where the protection or assistance referred to in subsection (1)(d) ceases without the person's position being definitively settled, that person may apply for recognition as a refugee under this Act. (3) The Commissioner shall not grant a person or asylum seeker refugee status under this Act if that person or asylum seeker— (a) having more than one nationality, had not availed oneself of the protection of one of the countries of which the person is a national, and has no valid reason, based on well-founded fear of persecution; (b) has been granted refugee status or asylum in another country before that person's entry into Zambia, except that a person arriving from a territory where there has been serious breach of peace shall have that person's application for asylum considered; and (c) has before that person's entry into Zambia transited through one or more countries and is unable to show reasonable cause for failure to seek asylum in those countries. (4) The Commissioner shall, where the Commissioner refuses to recognise a person's status as a refugee, state the reasons for the refusal and shall inform that person of the right to appeal to the Minister.

    Section 14(3) - Exclusion or refusal to grant recognition as refugee

    14.(3) The Commissioner shall not grant a person or asylum seeker refugee status under this Act if that person or asylum seeker— (a) having more than one nationality, had not availed oneself of the protection of one of the countries of which the person is a national, and has no valid reason, based on well-founded fear of persecution; (b) has been granted refugee status or asylum in another country before that person's entry into Zambia, except that a person arriving from a territory where there has been serious breach of peace shall have that person's application for asylum considered; and (c) has before that person's entry into Zambia transited through one or more countries and is unable to show reasonable cause for failure to seek asylum in those countries.

    ExCom Conclusion No. 94 (LIII) of 2002

    Legal provision

    ExCom Conclusion No. 94 (LIII) of 2002 - Generic

    ExCom Conclusion No. 94 (LIII) of 2002 - Generic