Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees For the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Compilation Report Universal Periodic Review: 2nd Cycle, 26th Session ZIMBABWE I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Zimbabwe acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (hereinafter jointly referred to as the 1951 Convention) in 1981. However, it has entered reservations to Article 17 (wage-earning employment), Article 23 (public relief), Article 24 (social security) and Article 26 (freedom of movement). Additionally, Zimbabwe ratified the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees in Africa (the 1969 OAU Convention) in 1985. Zimbabwe deposited the instrument of accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention) in 1998, but it has not yet acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention). During the first cycle of the UPR in 2011, Zimbabwe accepted a recommendation to accede to the 1961 Convention.1 Refugee protection in Zimbabwe is governed by the Zimbabwe Refugee Act, which incorporates both the 1951 and the 1969 Conventions. The Zimbabwe Refugee Committee (ZRC) is the national eligibility commission mandated under the Refugee Act to conduct refugee status determination (RSD). UNHCR sits in the sessions as an observer. At the end of 2015, Zimbabwe hosted 10,593 refugees, asylum-seekers and other persons of concern. Among these, 6,950 are refugees and 2,435 finally rejected asylum applicants from areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the UNHCR non-return policy applies. Refugees and asylum-seekers in Zimbabwe are predominantly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (79 per cent), mainly originating from the eastern part of the country and fleeing conflict, sexual violence and indiscriminate attacks. The remainder of the refugees and asylum-seekers in Zimbabwe originate from Burundi (8 per cent) and Rwanda (9 per cent), with the remaining four per cent of the population comprised of individuals from Angola, Côte D’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Lebanon, Malawi, Mali, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Tanzania, and Uganda. "Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Zimbabwe” (19 December 2011), para. 94.9, recommended by Slovakia, A/HRC/19/14. 1 1