Failed asylum seekers to be deported to Zimbabwe

Failed Zimbabwean asylum-seekers could face being deported back to the country, after a tribunal ruled that they would not automatically face persecution from the authorities.

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal had been ordered by the High Court in order to reconsider last year's decision that it was not safe for asylum-seekers to be returned to Zimbabwe.

The judge ruled that some asylum-seekers, such as those connected with opposition parties or those with military or criminal records, could be in serious danger of serious mistreatment under President Robert Mugabe's regime. However he said that they might not necessarily face being tortured and said that each case needed to be considered on its particular facts.

All removals to Zimbabwe were halted last October after a failed asylum-seeker, who was not named, won his appeal against deportation.

However, in April, the Court of Appeal ruled that the decision had to be reconsidered, saying that the AIT had "erred in law" in the original decision.

Commenting on the ruling, Tim Finch, Director of Communications for the Refugee Council, said: "We are disappointed to hear this ruling; we still think it's not safe to remove anybody to Zimbabwe in the present circumstances.

"The ruling, while restoring the legal right to enforce removals, nonetheless makes it clear that a lot of people are at real risk if they are sent back. The government has won a small legal victory, but not the moral argument.

"We are very concerned to hear that the government is signalling plans to carry out removals this month on the justification that there has been a rise in applications. The judgement doesn't give a green light to mass removals at all and we hope the government will tread very cautiously and put safety first. In the end, one person sent back who faces persecution or worse, is one person too many."

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth, following President Mugabe's re-election in 2002, due to charges of election tampering and human rights abuses, including widespread intimidation and violence against supporters of opposition parties.

Zimbabwe then withdrew from the Commonwealth on December 7, 2003.

Zimbabweans whose asylum claim has been turned down may now face being sent back after a tribunal ruled that it was not illegal for the government to enforce removals.

(KMcA)