Britain halts Zimbabwe deportations

Britain halts Zimbabwe deportations

• Blair slams door on Zimbabwe asylum seekers

• UK ministers revolt over Zim asylum seekers

• Wedding stings that ends with one way ticket to Zim

• Zim asylum seekers go on hunger strike

• Double tragedy for UK asylum deportee

• A 'Gestapo' welcome for Zimbabwe's UK deportees

By Staff Reporter

BRITAIN will halt the deportation of Zimbabwean asylum seekers until after the G8 summit in Scotland next week, a British newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Times said immigration chiefs had ordered a stop to the removals amid growing condemnation of the policy by religious leaders and human rights groups.

A woman was the first beneficiary of the freeze on Tuesday night when her deportation to Harare was cancelled, according to the paper.

Human rights groups described the policy shift as a cynical ploy to avoid embarrassing Tony Blair during the G8 summit.

Ministers are also anxious to see an end to the hunger strike by Zimbabwean detainees as they do not want Britain’s treatment of refugees to dominate the summit agenda.

"Senior ministers made a series of private telephone calls (on Tuesday) in an attempt to reassure critics of an immediate, if unofficial, halt to the fast-track deportations," The Times reported.

Two of Britain’s most prominent religious leaders said that they were amazed that detainees were being sent back to Zimbabwe. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, said President Mugabe’s policies were deeply abhorrent and called for a moratorium on forced returns.

He also backed a call by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams for Zimbabwe’s neighbours to do more to stop violence in the country. Pope Benedict VI is expected to intervene in the Zimbabwe crisis on Friday. A Vatican source told The Times that he is likely to refer to human rights abuses by the Mugabe regime at the end of a visit to Rome by Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops.

Religious leaders have been restrained in their criticism of the regime as they feared damaging charity work in the region but the worsening crisis has forced them to speak out.

The Catholic interventions are significant because Mr Mugabe is Catholic and attended the funeral of the late Pope.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “The Government of Zimbabwe appears to be conducting a sustained, systematic campaign of terror against its own citizens. I share the frustration of all people of good will at this violation of basic human dignity and of international law.

“It would be a gross injustice, at odds with Britain’s humanitarian traditions, to send back Zimbabwean refugees.

“At the very least, a moratorium on returns should be observed while the international community attempts to get to grips with a fast-deteriorating situation. I welcome indications today the Government is reviewing the question, and that for the time being no Zimbabweans are being sent home.”

Dr Williams described the Government’s decision to continue sending failed asylum-seekers back to unsafe countries as “deeply immoral”. He described the asylum system as “deeply unsatisfactory”.

The Anglican Consultative Council, the executive body of the worldwide Anglican Church, meeting in Nottingham, also noted “with profound sorrow and concern” developments in Zimbabwe and urged ministers to reconsider their policy.
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