3.1 MIGRANTS EXPLOITED IN THE LABOUR SYSTEM Although cheap and sometimes slave labour was a feature of the colonial state, World War II was a watershed moment when “under the guise of support for the British war effort, undercapitalized settler producers, who were unable to attract an adequate supply of labour through a dependence on market forces, used their political power to influence the [British] state to coerce Africans into wage employment in order to take advantage of unprecedented opportunities presented by the expansion of internal and external markets." 5 This labour force worked under chronically poor conditions, often for little or no payment. The environment was characterized by high accident and morbidity rates, brutalization and abuse of workers, poor diet and inadequate accommodation. Workers had predominantly migrated from neighbouring territories and were therefore much more vulnerable to exploitation.6 The effects of this exploitation are still felt acutely by current generations. At independence in 1980, full citizenship was accorded to:  everyone born in Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia), whether before or after 1980, other than children of foreign diplomats, enemy aliens, illegal immigrants, or foreign residents; • everyone born outside Zimbabwe, if his or her guardian parent was a citizen (but not if the guardian parent was a citizen by descent) or a non-citizen resident of Zimbabwe; • everyone who acquired citizenship by registration (i.e. became a naturalized Zimbabwean). Dual or multiple citizenship was permissible and many people qualified who were from other Southern African countries and lived in Zimbabwe. In 1983, the right to dual citizenship was removed from the Lancaster House Constitution and Zimbabweans with dual citizenship were required to renounce their foreign citizenship if they wanted to remain citizens of Zimbabwe. Many descendants of Malawian, Zambian and Mozambican migrants were affected as they could no longer claim citizenship both of Zimbabwe and of their country of descent. Thus, if they chose to retain their foreign citizenship, they ceased to be Zimbabwean nationals and vice versa. However, from 1985 many people of foreign descent (mainly children of migrant workers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC)) region who had been in Zimbabwe before or after 1980 were given certificates of citizenship which recognized their Zimbabwean citizenship and enabled them to vote. This “Certificate of Registration as a Citizen of Zimbabwe” conferred the rights, privileges and duties attaching to citizenship of Zimbabwe. Despite being issued with a certificate of citizenship, affected persons were also given a Zimbabwean identity document inscribed “Alien”, implying that they were not first-class citizens of Zimbabwe. It was widely believed that they were only recognized as citizens for the purpose of voting, as long as they were perceived to be voting “correctly” by authorities. From around 2000 the Registrar General’s Office, which is responsible for civil registration, identity documents, citizenship and the voters’ roll, began to refuse Zimbabwean citizenship to people who had the potential right to another citizenship, even if they had never sought to claim that right. A number of court cases successfully challenged these provisions, albeit with no effect on the general practice of arbitrarily refusing citizenship. 7 As a result, people were faced with insurmountable barriers when they tried to access social services such as health care and education. 5 David Johnson, World War II and the Scramble for Labour in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1939-1948. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 2000 6 “The Exploitation and Abuse of African Labour in the Colonial Economy of Zimbabwe, 1903-1930: A lopsided Struggle Between Labour and Capital”, EP Makambe, Trans African Journal of History Vol.23 (1994) pp 81-104 7 See Carr v Registrar-General 2000 (2) ZLR 433 (5); Petho v Minister of Home Affairs, Zimbabwe and Another SC-80-2002; Tsvangirai v RegistrarGeneral and Others HH-29-2002; Todd v Registrar General of Citizenship and Another HH-76-2002; Ricardo Manyere v Registrar-General HH-87-02; Job Sibanda v Registrar-General of Citizenship and Others HH-02. WE ARE LIKE “STRAY ANIMALS” THOUSANDS LIVING ON THE MARGINS DUE TO STATELESSNESS IN ZIMBABWE Amnesty International 9