The Zimbabwean Documentation Process: Lessons Learned

Between September 20 and December 31, 2010, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) carried out the Zimbabwe Documentation Process (ZDP). Intended as a model for similar documentation projects that the DHA plans to extend to other categories of Southern Africans, the process provided a path for regularising the status of undocumented migrants. It also provided an alternative to the asylum system, which Zimbabweans have turned to in large numbers. Many of these individuals have been waiting for extended periods for their asylum claims to be finalised.