Zimbabwean exiles in the UK have urged the British government not to deport any failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe before elections are held there next year.
About 300 Zimbabweans gathered at Lancaster House in London this week for a meeting to hear a senior Home Office official Phil Douglas answer questions on the sudden ending of the government's four year moratorium on sending home failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers.
Douglas dismissed fears that the move would influence the decision of a team of judges presently considering the Zimbabwe test case on returns, and insisted that independent courts would continue to decide on individual asylum cases.
According to UK based Zimbabwe pressure group, The Vigil, few Zimbabweans at the meeting were satisfied by Douglas' explanations. According to a statement "there was laughter," when Douglas said that returnees could 'relocate' to different areas.
Many people expressed fears of renewed violence during next year's elections and there was a cry of "blood on your hands." In contrast there was applause when Ephraim Tapa, President of the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR), said that any returns should be delayed until after the elections.
The Vigil said in its statement that it was agreed there was a need for further dialogue on the UK government's policy and it was proposed that there should be a further meeting in November.
The government team suggested that Zimbabwean concerns about the policy should be "channelled through an organisation of their creation, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Focus Group." It was agreed that a consultation exercise begin in readiness for any further engagements with the UK Border Agency.
ROHR's Tapa was chosen to co-ordinate this process and liaise with other concerned Zimbabwean groups in the UK.
There has been a shocked reaction from the Zimbabwe diaspora in the UK to the announcement by the British government earlier this month that it was lifting its moratorium on deportations. The UK's Guardian newspaper claims the government's decision partly rests on a report by a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in August.
The newspaper said the report is based on interviews with seven people, who had voluntarily returned from Britain, who officials said faced no significant problems at Harare airport or in resettling in Harare or Bulawayo.
* SW Radio Africa
