Group condemns detention of Zambia-born youths classified as immigrants

The Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) has desecribed as outrageous the reported detention of two youths, Patience Mutima (25) and Ndayasiba Theophille (22), who were apprehended by immigration authorities from Chongwe.

According to the organisation, the children who were apprehended on Friday are currently being detained at Twin Palm Police Station in Lusaka.

The organisation said Patience was born from refugee parents at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka on September 20, 2000 while Ndayasiba was born on May 7, 2002 and wondered why they could be classified as immigrants.

“Despite never having set foot outside the country of their birth, they are now being treated as “illegal immigrants” by Zambian authorities, an act ZCLU deems not only unconstitutional but inhumane,” Isaac Mwanza Executive Director at ZCLU said in a statement on Saturday.

Mwanza said the situation of Patience and Ndayasiba reflected a much larger crisis where children born in Zambia from refugee parents were routinely arrested, detained and criminalised by Zambian authorities.

“These children are systematically denied their constitutional entitlement under Article 37 of the Zambian Constitution, which provides for such individuals to apply for Zambian citizenship,” he added.

Mwanza insisted that these were children of Zambia by birth, hold National Identity cards issued by Zambia and should be registered as citizens.

He said: “They grew up here, went to school here, and know no other home.Yet today they are treated as foreigners in their own country, locked up in cells meant for dangerous criminals.”

Mwanza further noted that the plight of such individuals was exacerbated by the lack of legal representation, with many languishing in unsanitary detention facilities, tried and even convicted as “illegal immigrants” without ever having migrated.

“There are many more children like Patience and Ndayasiba across the country, silently suffering. Some are locked up with hardcore criminals. Others are deported or live in fear of arrest, even when they have done nothing wrong. The legal system continues to fail them, and law enforcement treats them with indifference. We demand the immediate release of these two individuals and a halt to such detentions,” Mwanza said.

He urged the government of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Human Rights Commission, and all relevant stakeholders to address the ‘systemic’ failure in protecting the rights of Zambia-born children of refugees.

The Union also urged Parliament to review existing immigration and citizenship laws to align them with the Constitution and Zambia’s obligations under international human rights instruments.

“The ZCLU has taken this matter to court to seek a definitive interpretation of the rights of Zambia-born children of refugees to apply and be registered as citizens under the Constitution.”

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