'Alien' Zim sisters get passports

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has facilitated the issuing of passports to two Zimbabwean sisters unconstitutionally regarded by the Registrar General's office as aliens.

Edna and Margaret Silundu of Bulawayo were denied the travelling documents despite being born in Zimbabwe in the 1960s of a Zimbabwean mother and a Zambian father, who migrated to the country when it was still Southern Rhodesia.

In a statement, ZLHR said it was delighted to note that the RG's office had finally issued the passports the sisters after a struggle, since they were regarded as aliens.

"The two were denied the passports despite having been issued with Zimbabwe identity cards and regarding Zimbabwe as their home.

"The sisters were surprised when the RG's office refused to issue them with passports due to the country's complicated citizenship laws that were rendering some people stateless," reads part of ZLHR statement.

The sisters were represented by Nosimilo Chanayiwa and Lizwe Jamela, who wrote a series of letters explaining that the RG's office was misrepresenting the legal provisions governing citizenship issues as Section 35 (3) (b) entitles all Zimbabwean citizens to passports and other travel documents.

The engagement finally paid off resulting in the issuing of the passports to the two.

Thousands of Zimbabwean citizens born of either one or both parents of foreign origins continue to be denied travel documents as the RG's office demands that they renounce their 'alien' status and apply for Zimbabwean citizenship.