Judge lashes out as Zim woman deported in error

Judge lashes out as Zim woman deported in error

• MP urges British Airways to reject asylum flights

• 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

A ZIMBABWEAN woman could be flown back to Britain after she was erroneously deported just hours after a judge halted all deportations to Zimbabwe.

The woman who cannot be named for legal reasons was said to be in hiding at an unnamed location in Zimbabwe on Thursday after she was shunted onto a Zimbabwe-bound plane by a security firm.

A senior British High Court judge angrily condemned the deportation of the woman following a mistake by Securicor, which was responsible for escorting her out of the country.

Justice Collins called on the Home Office secretary Charles Clarke to halt all removals of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe pending a further High Court hearing.

Britain’s stance on the forced removals of Zimbabweans was thrown into confusion when a Home Office official told a separate hearing that deportations had already been halted.

This was despite a statement from Home Secretary Charles Clarke which said its policy remained unchanged and all cases were assessed on an individual basis.

The judge acted after a Refugee Legal Council (RLC) representative told him there was evidence to suggest asylum seekers were in danger of being ill-treated and abused in Zimbabwe just because they had claimed asylum in the UK.

During the case the judge said the woman, who was flown to Harare, was now "in hiding".

He said the Home Office had cancelled the removal directions after the woman lodged an application for judicial review with the High Court.

But the fax sent by the Home Office to Securicor was dealt with by a temporary member of staff who was not fully trained and did not realise the significance of the fax.

"How anyone could fail to appreciate the significance of a fax from the Home Office telling them removal directions had been cancelled frankly escapes me," the judge said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Clarke said 33 Zimbabwean asylum seekers were on hunger strikes in protest against the government's decision to send them home.
Responding to a lawmaker's question in the House of Commons, Clarke said none of the hunger strikers had been hospitalised yet.

"Food is available to all hunger strikers, and they are seen daily by a medical practitioner to check their condition," he said in a written statement.
In all, 106 failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers are in detention pending their deportation, Clarke said.

Most are opponents of the government of President Robert Mugabe, which stands accused of human rights abuses, and say they will face persecution if they are returned home.

The government has come under increasing pressure over its decision, which has been opposed by lawmakers from all parties.

In the past few days, the courts have intervened to prevent the deportation of two Zimbabweans whose applications for asylum have failed.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com