3 Zimbabwean asylum seekers held in UK dawn raid

3 Zimbabwean asylum seekers held in UK dawn raid

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By Staff Reporter

THREE Zimbabwean women were arrested in Brighton, south England, in a joint dawn swoop by immigration officers and the police Sunday, New Zimbabwe.com has learnt.

Six women were taken into custody during the raid, but three were later released.

Two of the three arrested women are failed asylum seekers.

Among those arrested was a former DJ for an online Zimbabwean radio station.

Police found forged immigration papers certifying the three women were allowed to work in the UK.

They now face criminal charges and are sure to be deported under new government guidelines on foreigners convicted of crimes in the UK.

The women -- all in their mid 20's -- appeared before Brighton magistrates on Monday and were remanded in custody to October 10 for trial.

Friends of the trio told New Zimbabwe.com Friday that they feared they were set-up by another woman, a Zimbabwean, with whom they were involved in an altercation on Saturday.

A friend said: "The girls picked up a fight with another woman and it looks like they swore at each other.

"The six of them went to a party on Saturday and returned in the early hours of Sunday. They had all been drinking and having fun.

"At around 5am, they were woken up by a loud bang as police and immigration officers forced their way in. The six of them were all quizzed about their immigration status and the other three girls were set free while the others were arrested when police uncovered the fake immigration papers.

"It's a nightmare for their families."

One of the three arrested women had overstayed on her visa by four years, the friend said. The other two women, including the DJ, had recently been released from an immigration holding centre on bail.

As part of her bail conditions, the DJ was ordered to reside in Southend until the finalisation of her asylum claim. Government lawyers will now be seeking to prove those bail conditions have been breached.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to take up employment in the United Kingdom, a key rallying point for human rights activists who say it has pushed some immigrants to near destitution. The government insists the policy is right to discourage foreigners from seeking asylum.

Zimbabwean asylum seekers not convicted of any crime are currently exempt from deportation as the Court of Appeal prepares to hear an appeal by refugee groups who want judges to rule that it's too risky to deport them to the Southern African country where Robert Mugabe's regime stands accused of gross human rights abuses.
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