THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says Zimbabweans topped the list of asylum seekers in 2009 with claims from the country more than double those from war-torn nations such as Afghanistan and Somalia.
A report released by the UN agency on Tuesday said 158 000 Zimbabweans filed asylum claims last year even as the country started to recover from years of social and political strife with the formation of the coalition government.
In second place was south-east Asian country of Myanmar (48 600) followed by Eritrea (43 300), Ethiopia (42 500), Colombia, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The report said 90 percent of the asylum claims by Zimbabweans were lodged in neighbouring South Africa.
There are no official figures of Zimbabwean immigrants living in South Africa although estimates range between two and three million – a significant chunk of the country’s population of about twelve and a half million.
Still more are scattered in other southern African countries such as Botswana while significant numbers moved to the United Kingdom and other Western countries.
Most of the immigrants left the country in the last decade to escape an economic and political crisis which critics blame on President Robert Mugabe’s misrule.
The veteran leader – who has been in power since independence in 1980 – however counters that sanctions imposed by western countries as punishment for his land reforms were responsible for the country’s economic collapse.
Mugabe and long-term rival Morgan Tsvangirai have since formed a coalition government and instituted a series of reforms which have eased political tensions and helped stem the economic decline.
However the Zimbabwe Diaspora has largely ignored calls by the coalition administration to return home and help rebuild the country.
Most have chosen to stay put in their adopted countries.
Others have opted to wait until a substantive government takes office after the next general election, expected to be held next year.