ZA concerned at recent court ruling on Zim

'The asylum system in the UK does not function properly'

LONDON - The Zimbabwe Association (ZA) is concerned that the Home Office is going to step up deportations of Zimbabweans after a tribunal ruled in favour of the Home Office in a recent appeal involving a Zimbabwean asylum seeker.
Although deportations of Zimbabweans are currently suspended, Sarah Harland from the ZA, says that three Zimbabweans have been detained since the tribunal decision with a further 15 being held in detention pending removal.
All of these cases are disputed nationality cases where asylum seekers have come into the country on fake Malawian and South African documents. The ZA has accused the Home Office of using this as a loophole to refuse asylum claims and then deport Zimbabweans to another country.
Maud Lennard, one of the 15 detainees, is being held at Yarlswood detention centre. She was due to be deported to Malawi last Friday. A private aircraft had been chartered to fly her to Malawi as two prior removal attempts have failed because the pilots refused to carry her on their flights. Due to protests from other Zimbabwean activists, the flight was cancelled.
Maud was assaulted and raped in Zimbabwe in 2003 because of her work as an activist for the MDC. In order to escape the country she purchased a Malawian passport from a corrupt official at the Malawian Embassy for US$500. Despite having her original birth certificate as well as other Zimbabwean documents, the Home Office refuse to recognise her Zimbabwean nationality.
Maud said that she faces torture and death if returned to Zimbabwe. "I don't know Malawi at all, I don't speak the language. If I am removed there I will definitely be deported back to Zimbabwe," she said.
Frances Asima, who had a fake Malawian passport, was deported to Malawi a year ago, despite the fact that his brother was granted asylum and he had Zimbabwean documents to prove his nationality. In Malawi, he was imprisoned for possessing a fake passport and then deported to Zimbabwe where he was taken for police questioning and tortured. A month ago he disappeared and neither his family nor the ZA have heard from him.
Hannah Ward, from the Refugee Council, said that the Government must recognise that those fleeing persecution sometimes have no choice but to obtain fake documents. "In 2003 visa restrictions were put on Zimbabweans. The Government must recognise that those people who have managed to get out of the country, have had to use underhand means to do so. The Geneva Convention recognises that people often do have to use clandestine means to get out of their countries and in the UK that has been interpreted very restrictively," she said.
The Home Office recognises that there is a problem with Zimbabweans coming into the country on fake documents, however at present the guidance that they have on these cases only relates to South African passports.
Obey Maphosa fled Zimbabwe in 2002 after his house was set on fire by government supporters and he received death threats. He crossed the Limpopo River to South Africa on foot. After living in destitution, he was taken in by a church who arranged the purchase of a fake South African passport and bought him a ticket to the UK in 2004. Earlier this year he was deported to South Africa despite specific guidance issued by the Home Office which says that those with South African passports but Zimbabwean ID cards and detailed knowledge of Zimbabwe "should be treated as Zimbabwean." Obey was in possession of a Zimbabwean ID card, which the Home Office still holds. It has never been returned to him.
Obey was imprisoned in South Africa and then taken to Lindela, a notorious detention camp, where he suffered abuse from the guards and was questioned and threatened by Zimbabwean immigration officials, whom he identified as CIO. They knew that he had been deported from Britain. His family, working with the Refugee Legal Centre managed to get him returned to Britain before he was removed from South Africa to Zimbabwe.
Anne Singh, Obey's lawyer for the Refugee Legal Centre, said that they had secured the return of two Zimbabweans deported to South Africa in 2004 because of the Home Office's guidance. "In Obey's case the timing was crucial. The two other cases where we bought people back from South Africa was around the same time as Obey's case went to appeal. The Home Office had his national ID. They should have realised he was a disputed national but they proceeded with the removal anyway. Obey's removal was unlawful because the Home Office acted against its own policy at the time," she said.
A spokeswoman from the Home Office said that they are unable to comment on specific cases. "The Government has grave concerns about the appalling human rights situation in Zimbabwe. We will continue to protect those who have a genuine fear of persecution. However, not every Zimbabwean in the UK needs asylum," she said.
Since 2004, 4,790 Zimbabweans have claimed asylum in Britain (this number excludes their dependents). Ninety per cent of these claims have been refused.
Ms Harland said: "The fear in the Zimbabwean community following the news that the appeal was dismissed increases our anxiety. The Zimbabwe Association believes that there is ample evidence demonstrating that the asylum system in the UK does not function properly, and that too many mistakes are made in determining whether or not asylum seekers are at risk of persecution. This means that people are sent back who are at risk of persecution, and some of these are subsequently persecuted and imprisoned."