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Immigration - in brief (12)

01 September 2005

UK: Zimbabwean asylum seeker wins test-case. A Zimbabwean asylum seeker fighting deportation from the UK won an important test case at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) in October. The man, who has only been identified by the initials AA, "had a well-founded fear of persecution" and would face a "a real risk of serious harm" if he were forcibly removed to Zimbabwe the tribunal ruled, halting his deportation. The tribunal also personally rebuked Home Secretary, Charles Clark, for his "alarming" lack of interest in the fate of Zimbabweans returned home. The government has long held the position that, on the one hand Zimbabwe is a bloody dictatorship, while on the other it is not quite bloody enough to prevent fleeing Zimbabweans being returned. The AIT chairman, Mark Ockleton, said he was "exceedingly surprised" that the Home Office had failed to monitor the safety of those returned. At least 210 Zimbawbeans were forcibly removed between November 2004 and July 2005. Then many Zimbabwean asylum seekers held in detention centres staged a hunger strike to protest at the deportations. The AIT ruling was welcomed by refugee support groups which said that failed asylum seekers from Zimbabwe could now feel "reasonably secure".

For background see Bulletin for Immigration Detainees No. 11 on http://www.biduk.org/pdf/bulletins/bulletin11_zimbabwe_10_00_05.pdf