Last Change:
10/02/2026
National Refugee Policy
Original names of the law: National Refugee Policy
Year: 2023
Type: Domestic policy
Rights Category: Asylum
Description
This first ever National Refugee Policy seeks to strengthen the role that Zambia plays in welcoming and hosting asylum seekers, refugees and former refugees. Zambia is a Party to the1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants of 2016 and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees including commitment to implement the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). Although the country has been hosting refugees and remains committed to abiding to various international obligations regarding the protection and assistance of refugees, there are still a number of challenges that need to be addressed in order to effectively host these Persons of Concern (POCs). These challenges include; inadequate reception and admission systems, inadequate provision of social services, livelihood opportunities and durable solutions as well as, inadequate inclusion of refugees in national development programmes. Therefore, this National Refugee Policy November, 2023 Policy aims to strengthen the protection and enhance the welfare and enjoyment of rights and freedoms of refugees, improve access to justice and essential services, restructure civil registration and documentation, improve livelihood opportunities and enhance durable solutions for refugees and former refugees. Further, the policy seeks to promote co-existence between refugees and local communities and enhance partnerships between the Government, local stakeholders and international partners in addressing forced displacement and the plight POCs.
Related questions
Selected provisions
2.2.1 Reception, Admission and Registration
Displaced persons fleeing their country of origin, expect receiving
countries to exhibit humanity and protect their rights and freedoms.
The Zambian Government has put in place some infrastructure and
systems for receiving and admitting asylum seekers and refugees.
However, reception and admission of persons coming into the
country has been challenging due to inadequate infrastructure and
management systems mainly due to low investments especially at
entry points. There has been inadequate officers trained in knowledge of refugee matters at frequently used border points and reception centres. This situation increases the chance of refoulement, unfair/unlawful arrests and detentions. In addition, there is limited knowledge among stakeholders that come into contact with refugees.
Civil registration and documentation of persons of concern is important because it is the basis upon which a person is identified and granted international protection. Documentation is also critical to accessing social services, enjoying rights and aiding effective planning. The country has been registering persons of concern and issuing them with documents such as, asylum seeker certificates, registration certificates, refugee certificates, refugee identity cards, birth certificates and alien cards. Whereas, the refugee identity cards, birth certificates and alien cards are legal documents, the rest are administrative documents and confer limited rights. In addition, these documents are not aligned with the existing national documentation system, therefore, are not widely known and accepted by law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. As such, persons of concern holding such documents remain vulnerable, as they have limited access to social services and livelihood opportunities and hence, are susceptible to arrests and detentions.