UK is sending 11,000 Mugabe refugees back

July 6 2008

... claims that Britain is forcing as many as 11,000 Zimbabweans seeking refuge here to make a stark choice between destitution or returning home to possible torture or death. Letters obtained by The Observer show that the Home Office continues to order failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers to return home...

The Home Office won a legal ruling earlier in the year giving it the power to send Zimbabweans home. But the ruling, the result of a three-year legal battle, was disputed by refugee groups.

Last week the Court of Appeal adjourned the case, a move that has meant thousands of Zimbabweans continue to be left without benefits. 'The hidden consequence of this decision is that up to 11,000 refused Zimbabwean asylum seekers will be left destitute, not given any support or accommodation and at risk of prosecution if they work to support themselves, so that some are forced to beg and sleep rough,' ...