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UK can send Zimbabweans back
12/04/2006 20:11 - (SA)
London - The British government has won an appeal against a court ruling which had effectively barred it from deporting failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe.
In a decision which could have serious implications for scores of Zimbabweans seeking asylum in Britain, a British appeal court judge overturned an earlier ruling from the country's asylum and immigration tribunal (AIT).
That ruling, made in October, barred the British government from deporting two Zimbabweans.
It said that, if they were sent home, the Zimbabweans would be in danger of persecution from Zimbabwe's government because they were asylum seekers.
The ruling set a precedent for all such cases. The British government halted deportations pending its appeal.
Wednesday's court decision dismayed human rights groups, who say Zimbabwe is not safe for returnees.
Last year, 40 Zimbabweans staged a hunger strike to protest against British plans to deport them.
The Zimbabwe Association, a support group for Zimbabwean asylum seekers and refugees in Britain, said: "Too many of those who have been forcibly returned in the past have suffered persecution, mistreatment and imprisonment.
'They are regarded as traitors'
"The Zimbabwe government's attitude towards asylum seekers is well known.
"They are regarded as traitors. Treason carries the death penalty."
The case of the two Zimbabwean asylum seekers will return to the British AIT for another ruling.
The British government said it would await this decision before forcibly returning anyone to Zimbabwe.
British home secretary Charles Clarke said: "The government remains deeply concerned about the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, and continues to press for an end to abuses.
"I cannot emphasise strongly enough that we would not enforce the return of a failed asylum seeker to Zimbabwe if we believed that they were at real risk of mistreatment."
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