Zambia grants MDC fans asylum
2008-06-10 12:06
Lusaka - Zambia has granted political asylum to a dozen Zimbabwe opposition supporters who have fled mounting political violence ahead of a run-off presidential election this month, say reports.
Zambia's home affairs ministry said 12 Zimbabweans had been granted political asylum and given full refugee status after undergoing a screening process, the state-run Zambia Daily Mail report said.
"Twelve of the 13 Zimbabweans who applied for asylum in Zambia have been granted the status," said Susan Sikaneta, home affairs permanent secretary.
She said the Zimbabweans would be taken for Maheba refugee camp in north-western Zambia, where they would be looked after by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The newspaper quoted Sikaneta as saying the Zimbabweans were supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who crossed into Zambia in recent days following the escalating violence.
Relations between the governments in Lusaka and Harare had been steadily declining with Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa angering his counterpart Robert Mugabe by likening Zimbabwe's inflation-ravaged economy to the sinking Titanic.