Deportations continue while UK government decides policy

By Tererai Karimakwenda
18 October 2005

A Zimbabwean asylum seeker, with a Malawian passport, was finally deported to Malawi on Saturday by guards who gave him no notice. He had avoided deportation from the UK a couple of times by refusing to get on the plane. Another failed asylum seeker was deported on Monday, and a third was due to be removed Tuesday night. The removals come just days after an asylum tribunal ruled that it was not safe to return failed cases to Zimbabwe. Although the home office said it would consider the tribunal’s findings, deportations are continuing while a general policy is being formulated.

The tribunal ruling had given many Zimbabweans a false sense of security, and the Legal Refugee Centre is advising people to wait about 3 weeks to find out how best to proceed. But it appears those who came into the UK on Malawi passports will be deported even if they have proven they are Zimbabwean. Many people escaping from Zimbabwe acquired passports from Malawi to avoid detection and because they are easy to get.

Dr Martine Stemerick has been active in assisting Zimbabwean asylum seekers and lobbying for a ban on removals. She told us that the deported asylum seeker, who will not be identified for safety reasons, is now in Malawi where he has no relatives, no place to stay and no money to live on. He had been waiting for a response to his appeal but none ever came. Dr Stemerick also said he was not given the 24-hour notice that he is entitled to under current UK immigration laws. In fact he was watching TV in the lounge when guards came to escort him to the airport.

What is also disturbing is that the guards allegedly treated him very roughly when he attempted to resist getting on the plane. Dr Stemerick said they bashed his nose and put a cloth over it as they forced him onto the plane. He was bleeding as he got on and his hands were allegedly bruised as well. The guards returned his papers to him at Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia. A sister of the deported man told Dr Stemerick that the guards said “We can kill you.” Accusations of verbal abuse by guards have been levelled by other asylum seekers in detention.