Zimbabwean migrants fear deportation as unrest grows | Story

Mutare, Zimbabwe – New homes cling to Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands, a fertile mountain region that has become a haven for people fleeing drought-stricken areas.

Many arrived with the hope of rebuilding their lives in a place where crops could still grow. They now fear they could be deported as the government steps up its crackdown on illegal settlements.

Known as “illegals” and sometimes derided as “nomads”, many say they moved here because of the poor rainfall and drought that made farming difficult in their area.

Stretching about 320 kilometers from Nyanga to Chipinge on the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, the eastern highlands remain one of Zimbabwe’s most fertile regions.

With reliable rainfall, rich soils and endless rivers, the region has attracted thousands of people fleeing the harsh climate of Zimbabwe’s arid plains.

Harvest of hope

“I came here 18 years ago and I have been living here since then.

This farming season gave him hope.

“I harvested a lot of maize. I am waiting for several bags of maize, enough to feed my family for the whole year. I will sell the leftovers,” said the 43-year-old while standing next to piles of harvested maize.

But the idea of ​​food security is short-lived.

The government is tightening enforcement

At a meeting of stakeholders last month in Mutare, the Minister of Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution in Zimbabwe, Misheck Mugadza, announced that he would be tough on the settlement of illegal immigrants.

He said he ordered the Zimbabwean police and the National Prosecuting Authority to intensify the arrest and prosecution of chiefs, middlemen and government officials involved in the illegal distribution of land.

“There is no tolerance for corruption,” Mugadza told the meeting. “The environmental management agency should implement Environmental Impact Assessment and environmental protection laws in areas with environmental problems. Wetlands, riverbanks and forests will not be sold. Traditional leaders will work in accordance with the Traditional Leaders Act and report to the relevant authorities.”

The government has said that this project is important to ensure stability in the management of farms, to eliminate corruption and to protect the environment from being damaged due to unplanned areas.

Climate stress due to migration

In Manicaland region, the situation is very difficult. Many of the families who are expected to be evicted say that their migration is not motivated by land considerations, but by the worsening climate which has made farming difficult.

Gweshengwe grew up in Village C in Gutaurare, a semi-arid area of ​​Mutare State that no longer grows irrigated crops due to rain. Like many others, they eventually migrated to the humid Eastern Highlands in search of land to farm.

“I still don’t know what the government wants to do, but we are asking them to fix our roads,” he said. “The damage did not start in our area, but we hear in the news that it is happening elsewhere.”

Similarly, Simon Chanakira, 44 years old, who is a neighbor of Gweshengwe, moved to the Eastern Highlands from the Chitora area where there was a drought in search of a better life.

An independent researcher, Trymore Maganga, told Al Jazeera that illegal settlements in the Eastern Highlands have become a solution for families affected by climate change, even if it is not a long-term solution.

“These settlements leave behind long-standing land injustices, make refugees vulnerable, increase natural hazards and risks, and often lead to conflict,” he said.

An uncertain future

Human rights lawyer Blessing Nyamaropa told Al Jazeera that Zimbabwe has no plans to deal with climate-related migration.

“Anyone who seizes land illegally is treated as an illegal resident,” he said. “Most of the time, people go to the leaders, they pay something and they are given a place.

He said some refugees settled in commercial fields without permission from the Ministry of Lands.

“It is not allowed to seize government land without permission, lease or letter. The government has been using the law to arrest such people and remove them from the community,” he said.

Despite the laws, Nyamaropa said enforcement alone will not solve the problem, calling for more information and how to respond to climate refugees.

“There should be an acceptance by all concerned that we have a problem.

Meanwhile, Gweshengwe continues to tend his fields while waiting to hear what will happen next.

He said: “We have nowhere else to go.”