By Nqobile Mafu
What a shame to all my fellow Zimbabweans who were hoping that HS case will be a success. 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. On Friday 23 November 2007 the case which involved an MDC member who had claimed asylum after failing to acquire stay in the UK was thrown out. HS claimed that as an opposition member she would be at risk if she was deported back home because the CIO operates at the airport and checking all the passengers especially those who will be coming from the UK. The British government never believed any statement made by HS and they immediately claimed victory, and indicated its intentions to resume the removal of asylum seekers to Zimbabwe.
The UK Home Office has argued it will offer protection to those who genuinely can prove they need it, 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 other forms of ill treatment. A statement made by AIT judgment in HS (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department.
· 246. A person who has made an unsuccessful asylum claim and has exhausted his rights of appeal will still be able to arrange a voluntary return until he is detained for the purpose of removal. After he has been detained for removal his travel documents will be held by the airline staff even if the person being removed is co-operative and compliant
· 279. We do not accept either that all those seen as having claimed asylum in the United Kingdom will be thought to be supporters of the MDC on that account alone. As noted earlier, the suggestion that the Zimbabwean authorities proceed on the basis that anyone with a connection with Britain must be considered a supporter of the MDC is impossible to reconcile with the significant effort put into obtaining intelligence concerning those in the United Kingdom who do support the opposition. After all, there would be little point in sending CIO operatives to infiltrate groups in the United Kingdom if everyone retuned was, in any event, to be presumed to be a supporter of the MDC and an enemy of the state qualifying for detention and interrogation.
The Refugee Legal Centre immediately issued a statement saying the decision puts thousands of Zimbabweans at risk of deportation and would leave many destitute. The statement says, ‘Most asylum seekers who have been refused asylum receive no financial help from the Government 21 days after losing their appeals. They are then evicted from their accommodation and are not allowed to work.’ The situation in Zimbabwe ‘is highly dangerous and is only likely to get worse in the run up to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections next March.’ Now the youth militia known as the “Green Bombers” are being been deployed in different places and their job is to cause a lot of confusion, rape and torture to the opposition members. The Refugee Legal Centre is considering whether to appeal against this decision, which overturned a ruling in 2005 that all Zimbabwean asylum seekers faced a real risk of persecution if they were to return. The RLC will also continue to support individuals who are able to challenge removal
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