Migration data is cardinal for well managed migration that ensures social economic development through the formulation of sound and progressive migration policies and legislation. This article focuses on migration data in Zambia; current situation, challenges and possible solutions.

1. 1
HOW THE LACK OF MIGRATION
DATA IS HINDERING ZAMBIA’S
DEVELOPMENT
By MARIAH MULENGA1
1.0 Introduction
Migration may be defined as the
movement of people from one
country, place, or locality to
another. Globally, there are an
estimated 258 million people
living in a country other than their
country of birth indicating an
increase of 49 percent since 20002.
About 90 percent of migrants are
voluntary or economic migrants,
1MariahMulenga is a Legal Practitioner withexpertise in
migrationlaw and policy. She worked forZambia’s Ministry
of Home Affairs, Immigration Department forover 9 years
and currently works under the Ministry of Justice- Attorney
Generals Chambers.
2 UNDESA,2017
while 10 percent are refugees or
asylum seekers.
Whether you view migration
negatively or positively, the
movementof persons is inevitable
and when well-managed,
migration fosters the accelerated
flow of goods and services as well
as the prevention and protection
of vices such as trafficking and
smuggling in persons, terrorism,
xenophobia, human rights
violations; to mention a few.
1.1 Migration benefits for
Development
The connection between migration
and socio-economic development
cannot be underrated. When well-
managed, migration has the
potential to contribute to the
developmentof a Country in ways
such as labour and skills
exchange, remittances from the
diaspora, foreign direct

2. 2
investment, trade in goods and
services, technological
advancement and environmental
preservation and protection.
In order to reap the benefits of
migration, a Country must first
know and appreciate its current
migration environment. This
entails a need to invest in timely,
adequate and accurate data on
migration. With this data,
Governments are able to employ
evidence based decisions for
sound and progressive policies
and legislation that fully address
migration risks and challenges
while harnessing the benefits for
national development.
According to the African Union
Framework for Migration3,
migration data is key to
mainstreaming migration into
3 AfricanUnionMigrationPolicy Framework forAfrica and
Planof Action(2018 – 2030);MigrationforDevelopment in
Africa
policy and planning frameworks
and development initiatives. It is
essential for developing effective,
evidence based migration policies
and programs.
1.2 Challenges
While effective migration
management requires accurate
and reliable data, the data and
knowledge of the scale and
characteristics of migration
remains limited in Zambia.
Migration data in the Country is
mainly obtainedfrom the national
census which takes place every
Ten (10) years, surveys and
administrative records. These

3. 3
records are presently analysedand
addressed in a fragmented
manner with administrative
records not collected for the
purposes of measuring migration
in its entirety4. The population
censuses and surveys do not
contain adequate data on
international migration flows,
migrantprofiles, labour migration,
remittances, irregular migration
and displacement among others.
The reliability of administrative
records as a source of migration
data is questionable, largely
because there is inadequate
capacity by institutions in
collecting quality and usable
migration data.
In 2019 Zambia, through its
Technical Working Group (TWG)
on Migration Data led by the
Central Statistical Office and the
4 Migrationin Zambia; A Country Profile 2019
Department of Immigration,
developed its first ever Migration
Profile. The Profile was intended
to help inform migration
governance in the country,
including evidence-based
policymaking, planning and
decision-making.It contextualized
migration dynamics in line with
the historical, political,
geographical and other
dimensions of the country. It was
the first comprehensively
compiled overview of migration
data in Zambia.
Whereas the migration profile is
helpful in ascertaining migration
flows and stock5, it drew mostly
on outdated data from the
national censuses, surveys and
administrative records. In
instances where there was
5Migrationflow data is a dynamic measure to count the
number of people crossing international borders, possibly
including those who cross several times during a given time
interval (UN DESA, 2012).

4. 4
completely no data from Zambian
sources such as on emigration, the
profile relied on International
records.
The downside of relying on
outdated data on migratorytrends
means that the profile generated
will be limited as it may not
address current concerns and
challenges given the diverse and
complex nature of migration.
1.3 Impact on Zambia’s
development
The current lack of timely,
adequate and accurate data on
various migration thematic areas
in Zambia is greatly impacting its
efforts to achieving its national
development as envisioned in the
Country’s Seventh National
Development Plan and its Vision
20306.
6 “A Prosperous middle-income Country by 2030”
This article examines the lack of
data on some migration thematic
areas, namely; internal migration,
irregular migration and
emigration.
2.0 Migration Thematic Areas
2.1 Internal Migration
Internal migration is the
movement of persons across a
country’s administrative
boundaries.
Data on internal migration is
important for ascertaining
population flows across
administrative boundaries within
a Country. With such data,
Governmentis able to understand
the push and pull factors and
allow for incentives to manage
internal migration for socio-
economic development. The
incentives may include an

5. 5
introduction of positive programs
and services in rural areas that
will make people want to move to,
or remain in those areas.
Currently, Zambia only captures
stock data on internal migration
through the census and household
surveys, with no system or
coordination mechanism to
capture and manage flow data on
internal migration. There is
currently no Government
institution mandated to capture
internal migration datain Zambia.
Since the census only occurs every
Ten years the data only contains
fragments of such movements.
Household surveys, which may
include some questions on internal
migration are rarely conducted
due to non- availability of
Government funding. Moreover
these surveys do not capture the
entire country and are mostly
conducted for study purposes
only.
Dearth in data on internal
migration has led to the lack of its
proper management. This, has in
turn, led to an increase in
urbanisation through urban to
urban and rural to urban
migration. The situation has
further resulted in urban poverty
and a strain on existing urban
infrastructure, social amenities
and the environment as well as
increase in crime. The rural areas,
on the other hand, remain mostly
undeveloped with majority of the
younger population rushing to
urban areas for better
opportunities, leaving the aged in
the rural areas.
2.2 Irregular Migration
Irregular migration is defined as
the movement of persons that

6. 6
takes place without the necessary
authorisation or documents
required under immigration
regulations.
In Zambia, the main source of
data for ascertaining irregular
migration is mainlyadministrative
sources. This source is not
sufficient as the institutions
involved lack the capacity to
collect quality and usable
migration data. Zambia does not
currently have a multi-sectoral
coordinating mechanism to fully
address migration issues resulting
in institutions working in silos and
collecting contradictory data.
Insufficient data on irregular
migration and more specifically on
human trafficking and smuggling
has made it difficult for the
Country to fight against the vices.
This unfortunately saw the
downgrading of Zambia to Tier 2
watch Listas indicated in the 2020
Trafficking in Persons report.7
Similarly, data limitations on
returnees are a major constraint in
analysing trends of return
migration,including its impact on
the micro- and macro economy of
the country. Without the necessary
information it is difficult to
address the plight of returnees
and protect their rights.
2.3 Emigration
Emigration may be defined as the
act of leaving one’s country with
the intent to settle temporarily or
permanently in another country8.
Emigrants (Zambians living in the
diaspora) are especially important
to Zambia’s developmentin terms
of skills and knowledge transfer,
political participation and
7 https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-
persons-report/zambia
8 Republic of Zambia ‘DiasporaPolicy’ Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; 2019

7. 7
remittances. In order to fully
harness these benefits, it is
important that Zambia has
accurate data on the number of
Zambians living abroad, where
they are living and their reasons
for emigrating from Zambia. This
information will help us fully
engage with the diaspora and
collaborate with them for the
development of our Country.
Unfortunately, information on
Zambians in the diaspora is
limited leaving policy makers to
rely heavily on international data
sources for analysis and policy
formulation. There is not a single
Governmentinstitution mandated
to collect information on
Zambians leaving the Country
and their reasons thereof. The
departure declaration form9
provided at the ports of entry by
9 Form III, Regulation7 of The Immigrationand Deportation
(General) Regulations, 2011
the Zambian immigration
authorities is tailored to only cater
for foreign nationals and not
citizens of Zambia. Once outside
Zambia, very few Zambians
register or engage with their
missions abroad. According to a
study done by the Policy
Monitoring and Research Centre
(PMRC)10, only about 18% of
Zambians engaged with their
missions abroad.
With the various benefits the
diaspora brings to the socio-
economic development of the
Country, their lack of engagement
is a challenge to realising the
vision as envisaged in the
Zambian Diaspora Policy of
201911.
10 Diaspora series, Exploring the Zambiandiaspora “Tapping
into the potential of the Zambiandiaspora” 2013
11 ‘A ZambianDiasporathatis protected, engaged and
participatesas anactive and reliable partner inthe socio-
economic development of the country’

8. 8
3.0 Solutions
There are several steps the
Government of Zambia may take
in addressing the dearth in
migration data for well-managed
migration that contributes to the
socio-economic development of
the Country. To begin with,
Zambiamustformulate a national
migration Policy. The lack of a
policy on migration is the number
one reason for the lack of its
proper management. When
formulated, the policy must
ensure it resolves issues of
migration governance with a
whole of Governmentand a whole
of society approach to ensure well-
managed migration. An
understanding of the cross-
cutting, diverse and complexity of
migration by all Government
institutions and society is
important for the formulation of a
national migration policy that
fosters sustainable development.
Currently, any mention of
migration leaves one to assume
that the Department of
Immigration is the sole custodian
of all migration issues in Zambia,
which is, of course not the case.
The Immigration department is
mainly mandated to deal with
issues of immigration which is
limited to foreign nationals that
come to stay or, indeed, transit
through the Country. The
Department is not mandated to
deal with other migration issues
such as Zambians leaving the
country, internal migration,
migration and trade, migration

9. 9
and health, migration and
agriculture, migration and
education, or forced
displacements, to mention a few.
Given this cross cutting nature
and diverse nature, Government
may introduce a mechanism for
the coordination, collection,
managementand dissemination of
accurate, reliable and
disaggregatedmigration data. An
electronic database on all
migration related data
representative of all Government
institutions is a must for capturing
migration data. Data collected
through a national migration data
information system should be
used to develop (and update) a
national migration profile, which
can be used to shape national
migration policies and legislation.
This will cure the current mischief
where institutions operate in silos
in the management and collection
of data which is often
contradictory and uncoordinated.
Further, there is need for capacity
building for civil servants in
identifying migration issues in
their respective institutions. Apart
from this, Government must train
data scientists and statisticians
who are able to study and
understand migration data for
quality coordination and
dissemination.
The Government must give the
appropriate institutions the
mandate to coordinate internal
migration and emigration. New
models of administrative data
collection tools may be introduced
for the collection of data on
emigration and internal migration
which do not currently exist.
Further, the Government may
develop and integrate migration

10. 10
data collection tools that function
regularlyintothe existing national
statistical tools.
Finally, there is need for an
increase in Government funding
towards migration research and
data. Given the ever evolving,
complex and diverse nature of
migration, it is imperative that
there be extensive research
conducted continuously to ensure
that the Government remains well
informed. Migration research is
indispensible to its proper
management, without which all
efforts to realising socio-economic
development remain farfetched.
4.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, well-managed,
migration is undoubtedly a
positive contributor to socio-
economic developmentin Zambia.
To manage migration well, there
firstly must be an understanding
of migration trends, flows, stocks
and other data for sound policy
and legislative formulation.
It is, therefore, important that
Government puts in place proper
management and coordination
mechanisms for the Country to
realise the benefits associated
thereof.
……………………..
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely
those of the author and do not in any way represent the
views of the institution she is employed by.