Britain to resume Zimbabwe deportations

Britain to resume Zimbabwe deportations

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By Staff Reporter

BRITAIN signalled it was ready to lift a moratorium on the deportation of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers on Monday following an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) country guidance case judgment which said not every deported asylum seeker is at risk of harassment by Zimbabwean security agents.

The AIT, in a judgment delivered last Friday, dismissed an appeal by a Zimbabwean woman known by the initials, HS, whose legal team argued that there was an automatic risk of persecution for asylum seekers deported from the UK.

Justices Ockelton, Storey and Southern, said in their judgment: "We do not accept either that all those seen as having claimed asylum in the United Kingdom will be thought to be supporters of the MDC on that account alone.

"As noted earlier, the suggestion that the Zimbabwean authorities proceed on the basis that anyone with a connection with Britain must be considered a supporter of the MDC is impossible to reconcile with the significant effort put into obtaining intelligence concerning those in the United Kingdom who do support the opposition.

"After all, there would be little point in sending CIO operatives to infiltrate groups in the United Kingdom if everyone retuned was, in any event, to be presumed to be a supporter of the MDC and an enemy of the state qualifying for detention and interrogation."

The British Home Office immediately claimed victory, and signalled its intentions to resume the removal of asylum seekers to Zimbabwe.

"We are pleased that the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal today agreed with the Home Office and found that failed asylum seekers do not face persecution or ill-treatment when returned to Zimbabwe," a Home Office spokesman said.

He added: "As we have repeatedly made clear, the Government has grave concerns about the appalling human rights situation in Zimbabwe, and continues to press for an end to abuses. We will continue to provide protection for those asylum seekers with a genuine need for our protection.

"However, not every Zimbabwean in the UK needs asylum.

"It is vital that we continue to operate a fair and robust system, enforcing the removal of those not entitled to be in the country who refuse to leave voluntarily."

The Home Office said some 200 individuals had voluntarily returned to Zimbabwe in 2006 under a scheme run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which offers financial incentives for voluntary return.

Caroline Slocock, the Chief Executive of the Refugee Legal Centre, whose legal team represented HS, said they were considering an appeal. If the appeal is allowed, deportations will be halted.

She said: "This decision leaves thousands of Zimbabweans at risk of being put in detention centres and forcibly removed to the country where they fear persecution. The situation in Zimbabwe is highly dangerous and is only likely to get worse in the run up to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections next March.

"The Refugee Legal Centre is considering whether to appeal against this decision, which overturned a ruling in 2005 that all Zimbabwean asylum seekers faced a real risk of persecution if they were to return. The RLC will also continue to support individuals who are able to challenge removal.

"In the meantime, we hope the Government will build on Britain's long tradition of protection for persecuted people and grant a temporary period of stay to all Zimbabwean asylum seekers, until such time as conditions in Zimbabwe improve."

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