ROHR Zimbabwe is gravely concerned about the impending deportation / removal of some Zimbabweans to Zimbabwe by the Home Office of the government of the United Kingdom.
It has come to our attention that since the week commencing 5th July 2021, the Home Office enforcement unit has been detaining large numbers of Zimbabweans for the purpose of deporting / removing them on chartered flights the first of which is scheduled to depart on Wednesday 21st July 2021. Those being targeted are mainly those without leave to remain and / or have no live leave to remain applications filed with the Home Office. Top of the list are those with a criminal record in the United Kingdom.
What is disturbing about this move by the Home Office is not only that it gives no regard to the fact that the deportees’ lives are in danger when they get to Zimbabwe but also that this development is pursuant to a bilateral arrangement between the notorious government of Zimbabwe and the government of the United Kingdom. The clandestine nature of the operation and the speed at which it is being executed appears to be designed to give the victims little to no chance of access to legal representation.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the Government of Zimbabwe has an atrocious human rights record with so many recorded cases of state sponsored murder, abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, excessive pre-trial incarceration and general persecution of those perceived to be enemies of the state. In this category fall members of opposition political parties, human rights activists, journalists and the diaspora community. The diaspora community in particular is accused of being sell outs mainly because they publicly speak out against the human rights violations of the repressive Zimbabwean government state agencies and the ruling party, ZANU-PF thereby exposing the Zimbabwean government’s ugly human rights record to the international community.
For the avoidance of doubt we wish to draw attention to the dossier of some of the human rights violations by the Mnangangwa regime since he ascended to power on the back of a military coup in November 2017. In a short space of time, Emmerson Mnangagwa has outperformed his notorious predecessor, Robert Mugabe in persecuting perceived enemies of the state who happen to be innocent and unarmed civilians of all walks of life. The dossier can be accessed via the following hyperlink;- https://rohr-zimbabwe.org/index.php/2020/07/19/rohr-zimbabwe-dossier-on-human-rights-violations-in-zimbabwe-from-nov-2017-july-2020-pdf-version/ .
More recent record of human rights violations by the government of Zimbabwe can be accessed via the monthly reports by ZimRights here or on the 2021 ZimRights monthly reports for June, April, March, February and January.
We urge the Home Office to immediately stop deportations / removals to Zimbabwe until such a time there has been a change in the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
We also ask all residents of the United Kingdom to support all the initiatives that the Zimbabwean community in the United Kingdom will come up with to fight against these deportations / removals
It is our considered view that the deportees face imminent danger if they return to Zimbabwe.
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By
Information & Publicity Department
Contact:
- Panyika Anselm Karimanzira
Spokesperson
Restoration
of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe
Mobile:
- +447538534375
Email:
- rohrzimbabwe@yahoo.com
Email:
- anselm.karimanzira@yahoo.ie
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