Policy and legal framework on internal displacement in Zimbabwe: an overview

Published on March 7, 2021

Nqobizitha NDLOVU* | genida

Zimbabwe is prone to rapid and slow onset disasters of both natural and man-made origins that have repeatedly caused several devastating effects and triggered population displacement. Over the last decade, natural disasters caused by cyclones and El-Nino, as well as socioeconomic and political factors have all contributed to migratory movements in the country. Contrary to the picture portrayed by the government of Zimbabwe, internal displacement is more prevalent in the country than is at first discernible. This brief offers an overview of the current policy and legislative framework on internal displacement in Zimbabwe. It identifies the lack of any formal legal recognition of internal displacement and weak property rights as the major drivers of internal displacement.
While there is no national legal framework specifically recognising and providing for the protection and assistance of IDPs, the 2013 Constitution articulates a Bill of Rights that protects the basic rights of IDPs. However, this exposes IDPs to blanket solutions which does not consider IDPs as a vulnerable group requiring specific policies and programmes to support them. As such, the broad recommendation is the domestication of the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa and the 1998 United Nations Guidelines on Internal Displacement.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

Researching Internal Displacement publishes engaging and insightful short pieces of writing, artistic and research outputs, policy briefings and think pieces on internal displacement.

We welcome contributions from academics, practitioners, researchers, officials, artists, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, postgraduate students and people affected by internal displacement.

Contact the Editorial Team

How to Contribute

Resolving Climate-Related Internal Displacement at a Time of Crisis

By Walter Kälin | Feb 12, 2026

This timely article by one of the world's leading experts on internal displacement highlights the growing crisis of climate-related internal displacement, which is unfolding against the backdrop of drastic funding cuts and humanity's apparent failure to adequately mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Arguing that the world is ill-prepared to address the crisis, including the severe challenges faced by populations living in protracted displacement, the author outlines a bold strategy for change. The blog calls on all stakeholders to acknowledge the severity of loss and damage related to displacement and prioritise durable solutions programming. It also highlights the systemic and financial changes required, including the need to make the still-elusive 'humanitarian-development nexus' a reality. Ultimately, the author makes separate but related recommendations to the United Nations, country donors and affected countries on how, through collaborative multi-year programming, the process of loss associated with displacement can be reversed and deliver sustainable improvements for affected populations.

Development-Induced Displacement of Indigenous Communities in Ecuador

By Natasha Chávez | Feb 5, 2026

This article examines how large-scale mining and oil extraction in Ecuador's Amazon systematically displaces Indigenous communities through "dispossessive engineered migration." Analyzing displacement at the Mirador and San Carlos Panantza mines and in Yasuní National Park, the piece shows how over 1,200 Indigenous People have been removed from ancestral territories through militarised evictions, manipulated consultation processes, and environmental degradation that makes land uninhabitable. The article argues that displacement is not an unintended consequence, but a deliberate strategy driven by state and corporate interests, effectively treating Indigenous Territories as disposable assets. The piece calls for demilitarising development projects, enforcing Free, Prior and Informed Consent as binding law rather than bureaucratic formality, reforming compensation frameworks to account for cultural loss, and strengthening Indigenous leadership in development decisions.

Returning Home: Land, Displacement, and the Politics of Resettlement in Post-War Sri Lanka

By Thiruni Kelegama | Jan 29, 2026

This article examines the right to return for internally displaced persons within the context of post-war resettlement, focusing on Sri Lankan IDPs and the military-bureaucratic apparatus they must navigate to return home. It demonstrates how military interests and the political significance of contested territories continue to override humanitarian considerations in the Northern and Eastern provinces, producing ‘ethnocratic regimes’, or governance systems that privilege territorial control whilst marginalising ethnic minorities through spatial regulation. The author argues that land distribution continues to function as a tool of state-making and power consolidation, even as it appears to remedy decades of displacement. Ultimately, bureaucratic controls, militarised surveillance, and procedural barriers in accessing land serve to reinforce ethno-territorial politics, reframing religious and ethnic minority IDPs not as bearers of rights but as populations requiring management and control.