Deportation and Public Health

This issue brief highlights the public health concerns around the ending of the Zimbabwean Documentation Process (ZDP) and provides a quick reference guide and background on deportations and public health in South Africa. Migrant groups and medical support organisations have reported continual problems with the deportation process in South Africa including: lack of access to medical care in the process of arrest, detention and deportation; an inability of individuals to access possessions and chronic treatment when arrested; deportation to areas where accessing health services and treatment for chronic conditions is difficult; and the threat of deportation frightening migrants away from using state health services. The likelihood of renewed and intensified deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans with the completion of the ZDP heightens these concerns.