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Government yesterday repatriated 96 Zimbabweans from Gauteng Province, South Africa, as xenophobic attacks in the neighbouring country intensify. The group is part of 171 Zimbabweans who were affected by the disturbances, which have left over 12 people dead, including two Zimbabweans, and displaced hundreds.
SOUTH AFRICA – More than 23 000 Zimbabwean illegal immigrants were deported from South Africa between January and April through Beit Bridge Border, a sharp increase compared to 13 600 during the same period last year.
HARARE – Thousands of Zimbabweans who fled economic and political turmoil are trooping back home, even as a volatile political situation plunges the country further into uncertainty.
South Africa yesterday deported 261 Zimbabweans who were living in that country illegally while 300 more such immigrants are expected to arrive at Beitbridge Border Post today. This follows the expiry of the July 31 deadline for them to regularise their papers.
Aid agencies are braced for a “mass return” of illegal Zimbabwean migrants from South Africa. A moratorium on deportations, introduced in 2009, expires on Dec. 31. The Harare government’s contingency plans are based on receiving an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 Zimbabweans each month from neighbouring South Africa, said United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR. 1.5 million Zimbabweans are living in the country, most of them illegally.
In this series SW Radio Africa journalist Alex Bell examines the voluntary return packages offered to Zimbabweans living in the UK and questions whether the packages are making it harder for asylum seekers to remain in the UK. She speaks to Sarah Harland from the UK-based Zimbabwe Association.
In this series SW Radio Africa journalist Alex Bell examines the voluntary return packages offered to Zimbabweans living in the UK and questions whether the packages are making it harder for asylum seekers to remain in the UK.