Concern raised over British Home Office team in Zimbabwe

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 Sept 2005

The state run paper The Herald reports that the British government has sent a team to assess the political situation in Zimbabwe. The Herald said Gillian Dare, British embassy spokesperson, confirmed the presence of the delegation in Zimbabwe, saying it was there to assess a range of immigration and nationality issues. A tribunal in the UK is due to hear asylum cases in October which will determine whether it is safe to return failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe. Activists assisting Zimbabweans in the UK believe the presence of an immigration team only signals that the home office is gathering evidence to show that it is safe to return failed cases.

More specifically, The Herald claimed that the British delegation is in Zimbabwe to gather evidence to use against locals calling themselves asylum seekers who are contesting their deportation in the British High Court. The paper also claimed the British government asked for a postponement of the case lodged by three Zimbabweans in order to gather evidence to support deportations. But the delay actually became necessary when Justice Collins decided the case should be heard by a tribunal as a country case.

Activist Anna Meryt, who works with Zimbabwean asylum seekers, was surprised that this team had been allowed to enter Zimbabwe. She said if the visit is being supervised, then the government would not expose the delegation to any violence against returned asylum seekers. This means their evaluation will likely be that it is safe to return failed asylum cases back to Zimbabwe. And that is a scary prospect for political activists who support the opposition and may find themselves returned to face the same state agents who may have tortured them in the first place.

This issue is so crucial that some detained Zimbabwean asylum seekers went on a hunger strike at centres across the United Kingdom. The Herald claimed they received little sympathy, but the fact is many sympathisers signed their petition and the hunger strike received international press coverage.