Britain urged to halt Zimbabwe deportations

Britain urged to halt Zimbabwe deportations

• UK protests planned over deportations

• Neighbour's eye witness account as UK deports Zim mum

• Britain deports Zimbabwe mum and kids

• UK condemned over deportation of Zim asylum seekers

• UK resumes deportation of Zimbabweans

• Britain plugs Zimbabwe visa loophole

• Britain still a magnet for Zimbabweans

• Zim immigrants account for half of Aids cases in UK

• Deported for falling out of love

• Britain's asylum shame

• Britain clamps down on C'nwealth job scheme

• Britain clamps down on sham marriages

• 6 years for hit-and-run Zim refugee

• Zanu PF UK asylum network exposed

• Police shed more light on visa scam

• Zim man nabbed in visa scam

By Staff Reporter

BRITAIN was last night accused of "engaging in a costly blood sport with human lives" as Zimbabweans planned a huge demonstration at noon today protesting the deportation of asylum seekers.

A group of Zimbabweans leading the protests said they were "dismayed and outraged" at the deportations which hit top gear this week with several raids at properties across Britain.

"Zimbabwean exiles are both dismayed and outraged at this immoral policy by a government which on a daily basis condemns the excesses of Robert Mugabe’s tyrannical regime," the group said in a statement. "On one hand, the British government admits that 'future prospects in Zimbabwe are not good', and on the other, Zimbabweans seeking the protection of Britain are being sacrificed in the most reckless fashion and in total defiance of standing international laws on refugees."

The group seized on comments by Junior Foreign Minister Chris Mullin in the House of Commons on Tuesday as evidence that the British policy on deportations was at odds with the government's view of President Robert Mugabe's regime.

Mullin said: "The people of Zimbabwe are regrettably at the mercy at the moment of a very rotten Government. It is true that for the immediate future the prospects in Zimbabwe are not good.”

The Zimbabwe group also warned British authorities that the heavy-handedness displayed by immigration officers and the police during the removals would cause Zimbabweans in government accommodation to go underground.

"The actions of the British Immigration Department and the Police to raid women and children in the wee hours of the morning and herd them into waiting trucks as if they were terrorists will breed a new group of Zimbabweans who are hostile to law enforcement," they said. "Many other Zimbabweans will flee their government-provided accommodation and stop reporting to the police. Life on the run in Britain is better than life in Mugabe’s jails and torture chambers."

Refugee agencies and human rights groups have roundly condemned the British government for resuming the deportations which had been suspended for two years pending political reforms in Zimbabwe.

Those reforms are yet to happen and President Mugabe is still firmly in power. On Tuesday, his government continued its crackdown on the opposition with the arrest of Glen View MP Paul Madzore. Just this week, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said seven Members of Parliament, 53 party officials and hundreds of activists had been subjected to arrest, intimidation, beatings and torture since January.

Arthur Molife, one of the organisers of the demo said last night: "Zimbabweans should seize this moment to send a clear and loud message to the British government that this policy is unwise and immoral. These deportations affect everyone and if we don't stand up in unison, we are all doomed."

DEMONSTRATION DETAILS:
Starting at noon on Wednesday, demonstrators will converge at the Zimbabwe embassy in London before heading for 10 Downing Street and the Foreign Office where a petition will be handed over to the Prime Minister's representatives.

1200 hrs at Zimbabwe House, 429 Strand, London. Near Charing Cross Station.

1400 hrs: We depart from Zimbabwe House past South Africa House, Trafalgar
Square and then head for No: 10 Downing Street and then to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and end up at Parliament Square.

Nearest Tube Stations: - Embankment: (Bakerloo, District & Northern Lines).

Charing Cross: (Bakerloo & Northern Lines).

British Rail Station: Charing Cross.

There are numerous Bus Routes past Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross Station: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 23, 24, 29, 53, 77, 77a 88, 91, 176, 453 to mention a few.

For more information: Contact Numbers are: - 07960126028. 07969449760. 07916155604. 07958015610
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