Building the Capacity of Zambia Prisons Service to Protect the Rights of Vulnerable Migrants

The objective of this project is to contribute to the Government of Zambia’s efforts to uphold the basic human rights of migrants in Zambian prisons.

Zambian prisons host large numbers of migrants, many of whom are detained on immigration-related offences. Currently, there is limited awareness among prison officials of the procedures for the assessment of migrants with vulnerabilities, such as victims of trafficking. Lack of standardised procedures for the collection and management of data on migrants in detention often leads to challenges with case management, referrals and follow-up. The result of these challenges is that migrants in detention are often unable to exercise their basic human rights.

Against this backdrop Zambia Prisons Service has requested assistance from IOM to improve their capacity to manage data on migrants in detention and to improve capacity to identify, assess and refer vulnerable migrants to protective services. The proposed project responds to this request through two key outcomes:

1. upgrades to the Zambian Prisons Service Information Management System for improved case management; and
2. training of prison officers on migrants’ rights and protecting vulnerable migrants, with particular focus on the needs of women and children in detention.

This project will also complement IOM ‘Capacity Building for the Department of Immigration’ Project, which was implemented in Zambia between 2011 and 2013.