Zimbabwe detains 160 deportees from South Africa

Zimbabwe detains 160 deportees from South Africa

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE officials have detained more than 160 Zimbabweans who were deported from South Africa as illegal immigrants, state radio reported on Wednesday.

Regional officials estimate that up to two million Zimbabweans have sought economic refuge in neighbouring South Africa in the face of a long-running political and economic crisis which President Robert Mugabe's critics say has forced a quarter of Zimbabwe's 12 million people abroad.

On Wednesday Zimbabwe state radio said South Africa -- which has been routinely deporting illegal immigrants by road or rail -- had on Tuesday taken "the unusual step" of deporting more than 160 people by air, and these people were now being held by state authorities for questioning.

"The deportees, some of whom did not have travel documents, were flown into Zimbabwe last night and are currently in police custody at Harare International Airport pending clearance," it said, adding that some of those deported had claimed that they had been tortured on the plane.

The deported men and women had been held at Lindela Camp outside Johannesburg and included Zimbabwean civil servants who claimed they had been arrested in South Africa despite having legal travel documents, the radio said.

There was no immediate comment from Zimbabwe police or immigration officials on Wednesday.

A spokesman for South Africa's Department of Home Affairs confirmed that Zimbabweans had been deported by air on Tuesday but said this was not unusual.

"We deport people by air from time to time," Nkosana Sibuyi said, adding that he had no information about any allegations of torture on the brief flight from Johannesburg to Harare.

Earlier this week, the South African Sun newspaper reported that five Zimbabweans had been targeted and hacked to death last Sunday by right-wing anti-immigrants campaigners - Reuters/Staff Reporter
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