Zimbabwe September 2006 |
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| Failed asylum seekers take their fight to Labour, (Zimbabwe Journalists, 2006-09-17):-Zimbabweans living in the United Kingdom took their protests against deportations from Britain to the Labour government's offices with other demonstrations taking place simultaneously in Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and other areas with big concentrations of the Zimbabwean community over the weekend. Noble Sibanda of the United Network for Detained Zimbabweans told zimbabwejournalists.com there was need for all Zimbabweans to unite and send a message to the British government against its plans to remove thousands of failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe. "What we are basically saying to the British government is that they should stop aiding Mugabe by trying us here in the UK," said Sibanda. "They should allow us to regroup, map our programmes and focus our energies on fighting the regime back home. We are worried by the contradictions which we continue to find in Tony Blair's government over the Zimbabwe crisis." At the Labour party offices in London, the protesters, who have since visited the Conservative party offices on the same issue, handed in a petition highlighting the plight of the failed asylum seekers and the need for the British government to protect them. There was a lot of singing, drum beating, ululating and sloganeering as the failed asylum seekers and other Zimbabweans told their sad story of existence both in Zimbabwe and the UK. The petition was addressed to chairman, Ian McCartney. "Nobody wants to be here any longer than necessary. Things are not yet okay in Zimbabwe and the British government knows that and that is why Zimbabwe is still under the targeted sanctions," said Sibanda. "As long as they haven't removed those sanctions then it means people are still being trampled on. We want the British government to work with us on this issue and many others. They should not run ahead of us but work with us." The British government won the right to deport thousands of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers at the courts recently but lawyers representing the Zimbabweans are trying to appeal against the decision. Most of the protesters want the British government to at least stop deportations to Zimbabwe until the situation in the country improves. Some failed asylum seekers have since been taken into detention while the campaign to free them and stop the deportations continues. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |