source: SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
26 November 2007
The Immigration and Asylum Tribunal (AIT) in the United Kingdom has effectively cleared the way for the UK Home Office to begin deporting thousands of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers. In 2005 a temporary ban on deportations to Zimbabwe was put in place pending the determination of the AIT tribunal on whether deportees faced automatic risk once back home. The case has been dominated by appeals and counter appeals and has been changed from the original AA test case to HS, after a new applicant was chosen to deal with the changing situation in Zimbabwe.
The new ruling which was made public on the AIT website last week becomes the basis for new country guidance criteria on Zimbabwe and will be used to deal with thousands of asylum appeals that relied on the initial 2005 ruling. The UK Home Office has argued it will offer protection to those who genuinely can prove they need it, but will not offer blanket immunity for everyone. This means they will now proceed on a case by case basis. Campaigners however say returnees, irrespective of background, are classed as agents of regime change and face possible arrest, torture and [continue reading]
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3 December, 2007 at 1:09 am
well to be very honest the decision is really putting the failed asyulm seekers at real risk which may lead them to death,it doesnt mean if they are failed they are not genuine but the home office is not giving the refugee status to people who really need it who are really genuine,therefore as we are aware the elections in zimbabwe there are in the next few months which they are planing to deport them,failed zimbabweans asylum seekers are at real risk than anything else on earth,mugabes regime will be waiting at the airport if this deportations starts and many will face touturing death so i plead if you could just stop the deportation till the situation in zimbabwe gets better because at the moment its really dangerouse.
thank you
7 December, 2007 at 11:48 am
As a failed asylum seeker myself i find the home-office’s system of questioning very appaling. They state each case’s merit is independent but some of their questioning is so insensitive and degrading. In Zimbabwean culture nobody ever talks openly about something such as rape while the moment you run away fro thing such as those come to u.k to tell your story nobody believes you, you are told its not credible.How do you expect me to go and tell strangers every detail of it?
we are dead scared of Mugabe and his regime and so is everybody including great Britain. If The Prime MInister cannot stand the man how can you expect somebody who has suffered in the hands before to go and be in his mercy? I, for one has lost hope, lost hope in the humanitaranian protection system because I cannot see any, legal system and I lost faith in zimbabwean system when I suffered in their hands.
Is returning all these people to be tortured or even die in the hands of the tyrany really ETHICAL?
Please if you can give us at least back our lives!
31 January, 2008 at 4:32 am
i just want to know why cant the home office agree that the situation in zimbabwe is bad.We are very gratefull about the money and the free accomodation they give us .But for how long ….what suprising me is they cant even see this is worst torture ever of making us go an sighn every day becouse everytime you step in that H.O door your body start feeling week and hopeless becouse you dont know if you will come out.Anyway if they feel like is the rigth thing to deport the zimbabweans they should at the end of the day whatever we say doesnt matter to them . The treatment is so bad when they look at you an the way they talk 2 us its horrable