The Global IDP Project prepared the first version of its profile on internal displacement in Zimbabwe in July 2002. Gaps in the information then available made it difficult to present a detailed picture of the situation that included accurate figures, location of IDPs and assessment of needs. A year on the information that is now available reveals a situation of great concern, although serious information gaps still make it difficult to present a comprehensive analysis. However, the present document identifies major displacement patterns, existing coping strategies and the most urgent humanitarian needs.
While the main purpose of the profile is to bring attention to the plight of people being internally displaced in Zimbabwe, it will hopefully also serve as a useful input for a more detailed and urgently needed survey of the situation. The list of documents at the end of this profile includes the most relevant reports issued since the present crisis started in 2000. Any additional information users may have, would be gratefully received.
Introduction
Zimbabwe - once grouped among the more prosperous and politically stable countries in Africa - has since the mid-1990s seen both its economy and political stability deteriorate. Population movements, both voluntary and forced, have become an increasingly visible and common reality. While economic hardship has led to new movement patterns, large numbers of people have been forced on the move because of political violence, both separate from and closely linked to the "fast track" land reform programme implemented by the Government.
The UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were developed in particular to protect people fleeing violence and human rights violations. In Zimbabwe, the high level of "generalized" violence and human rights abuses make it relevant to apply this legal framework:
"internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border." (UN 1998, principle 2)
By the end of 2002 USCR estimated that more than 100,000 people were internally displaced in Zimbabwe. One local observer estimated in June 2003 that if a narrow definition of internal displacement is applied, a realistic estimate would be that there were between 50,000 and 100,000 IDPs caused by the land reform and/or the political violence. Although a comprehensive assessment of the situation remains to be undertaken, available information suggest that the number of ex-farm workers who remain in a situation of internal displacement could be higher.
By June 2003 less than 25 percent of the original commercial farms were operating and as many as 240,000 former farm workers may have lost their jobs. Although many farm workers remain on the farms even if the farming activities have stopped, and many have resettled as subsistence farmers in other areas, a large number have become internally displaced - especially the most vulnerable. Although the takeover of the commercial farms was officially completed by the end of 2002, spontaneous farm occupations were still taking place in mid-2003.
With regard to victims of political violence not related to the land reform, there has during the last three years been continuous displacement of political activists on an individual basis. Displacement appears to have peaked during the election periods, and as many as 50,000 were reported to have been temporarily displaced when presidential elections were held in March 2002 (USCR 2003). As with displaced farm workers, there is as yet no clear picture of numbers, humanitarian needs and the duration of displacement, but it is evident that physical protection is a major concern in the context of the continued state sponsored violence. The violent response by the ruling party and the government towards the "stay away/mass protest" demonstrations organised by the MDC opposition in March and June 2003 have in fact been described as worse than during the 2002 elections (CZC June 2003, p2).
Beyond the targeting of Zimbabwe's population of European descent, ethnicity and tribal violence has not been a dominant issue during the recent crisis. However, in June 2003 the whole population of a village, Muzerengwa in the Manicaland Province, was displaced. The tribal affiliation of the 500-700 inhabitants differed from the neighbouring group, and their eviction was apparently triggered by the headman's brother being an active MDC activist.
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