Divided we all fall

Divided we all fall

• Let's get real about asylum issues

• UK detains Zimbabwean asylum seekers

• COMMENT: Betrayed by Blair, they will simply go underground

• Full text of AIT judgment on deportations

• Britain can deport Zim asylum seekers

• The Home Office v Zim asylum seekers

• Asylum tribunal hears evidence from ex-CIO men

• UK asylum court battle set for July

• PART I..Tanya, cutting through a web of lies

• PART II..Tanya, cutting through a web of lies

• PART III..Tanya, cutting through a web of lies

• PART IV..Tanya, cutting through a web of lies

• Tanya seeks gag order to hide 'dark past'

Zim asylum seekers double after UK ruling

• UK minister loses job over sex-for-asylum scandal

• 'Sex for asylum' UK officer suspended

• 'I will help you,' he said. Then he asked for sex

• Mugabe in 'come home' plea to exiles

• Home Office wins key Zim asylum ruling

• Decision will impact on all Zim asylum seekers

• UK sham marriages law struck down

By Godfrey Nyandoro and Luka Phiri

DURING the time when the AA case was being prepared against the British Home Office, most Zimbabweans were nowhere to be seen or heard.

Evidence was needed to be used against the secretary of the state. Now with this outcome of the court in favour of the home office secretary, most Zimbabweans are contacting Zimbabwean organisations trying to find out what is the next step.

There has been an upsurge of asylum seekers during the period since 2004. Most Zimbabwean organisations have been encouraging members to go and seek asylum where appropriate. Now most would think twice before they come out of hibernation.

It is a known fact that most Zimbabweans have their asylum cases denied and they have exhausted all the appeal channels. Only a few made new fresh applications to the AIT basing their references to the AA case.

With this in mind, it means a lot of Zimbabweans are facing imminent deportation. The only way forward in order for this government to see that this is not a sound judgment is for Zimbabweans to unite. Many Zimbabweans are quite happy supporting the cause from the comfort of their houses for very selfish reasons.

They would rather go to their ‘shifts’ forgetting the ‘shift’ is a short term gain. Sooner or later the authorities will catch up with them especially with the special teams set up to go and raid employers who are employing illegal immigrants.

We just hope those who got the leave to remain basing their judgements on AA case will not be affected by this decision.

Unity now is the most powerful weapon in order to overcome this depressing situation. As individuals we would like to suggest that we urgently appeal against this decision. We need to mobilise a lot of Zimbabweans to come up with as much evidence and information that will help us to build up a good case.

Our campaign organisations have received a large number of calls from Zimbabweans worried as to what they should do. We are sure there are a lot more who did not get through. One common question that was asked by many was “what do we do now?” We still have options left, we can appeal against this decision to the High Court and if we lose, we can pursue it to the House of Lords.

A demonstration can only be a success if a lot of Zimbabweans come to the protest. John Reid’s office can be an ideal place since it is near the Buckingham Palace. We should understand that the secretary of state has a target to meet. He has to reduce the number of immigrants in this country and Zimbabweans constitute a large number and he doesn’t care about the current situation or what the deportees will face when they are deported.

One of the negative effects would be that Zimbabweans whose asylum cases have been turned down will go underground and this will not solve the problem.

The problem we have is more political than legal and having gone through the judgment, we can’t blame the judges who have come to the conclusion they did given the quality of the cases they were faced with. We could have put forward more credible cases than the lot presented , but the cases leave a lot of sour feeling in the mouth having trusted that what had been done behind the scenes had been useful. We feel we shot ourselves in the foot.

However not all is lost. We can forge ahead by way of an appeal as well attacking it from the political front. Protests which are clearly thought out and targeted will also help. The issue of unity is very important as we have witnessed in a lot of cases some individuals and organisations seem to have different agendas including self aggrandisement and enriching themselves at the expense of the larger Zimbabwean population who are suffering. Some of the leadership in our Zimbabwean organisation are hell bent on creating names for themselves and in the process they tend to lose focus. We need a committed leadership if we are to make any headway.

Decisions need to be made with a sane and calm mind but very often most of us rush into calling for demos and vigils without carefully thinking of what the out come should be. A case in hand is the Mkapa petition which was handed to Tony Blair. The whole idea of a petition was discussed by a loose coalition of the Zimbabwean groups but the whole agenda was changed ignoring the more mature and agreed issues which were supposed to be raised.

We need to take control of our own destiny as Zimbabweans and be careful of some of our supposed sympathisers who end up hijacking our cause in order to raise their own political profile. We need to come together as Zimbabweans and make decisions for ourselves and only solicit assistance for logistical and moral support.

Godfrey Nyandoro and Luka Phiri write from the United Kingdom
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