SA turning away Zimbabwe refugees as crisis rages on

HARARE

South Africa is turning away Zimbabwe political refugees despite signs that the fragile power sharing agreement between the country’s rival political parties is in danger of failing.

A Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika is meeting on Monday to try and resolve a political stalemate that has shattered the dreams of ordinary Zimbabweans who were beginning to believe that a solution had finally been found for the country’s decade old political problems.

The likely failure of the SADC mediation spells disaster for millions of Zimbabweans scattered all over the region as their hosts are also increasingly becoming impatient.

The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), in a report released ahead of the meeting in Swaziland, warned the leaders that conditions for Zimbabwean exiles, especially in South Africa, had worsened since the signing of the September 15 agreement.

They are now demanding a more robust approach from regional leaders to address the crisis in Zimbabwe.

“The conditions for asylum seekers on the ground have deteriorated from horrendous to nightmarish,” said Mr Gabriel Shumba, ZEF director.

“The home affairs department (South Africa) is turning away all those from Zimbabwe on the spurious grounds that a deal has been signed back home and that therefore this indicates that the situation has improved.”

Mr Shumba claimed that some had their travel documents torn and thrown into prison pending deportation back to Zimbabwe.

“This is very scary because the behaviour may fuel xenophobia against Zimbabweans,” he said.

There no reliable statistics on Zimbabweans exiled in South Africa, but various estimates have put them at more than three million.

Close to 500,000 are deported every year but the majority find their way back through ungazetted entry points.

Only Botswana started according Zimbabweans refugee status in the run-up to the bloody presidential run-off election where President Robert Mugabe ran alone.

The major contender and MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw due to political violence.

The signing of the agreement that will see Mr Mugabe remaining president with Mr Tsvangirai becoming prime minister in a coalition government had raised a lot of hope of a quick turnaround in the economic and political situation in the country.

The ZEF said some Zimbabweans had even started trooping back home but most of them were now making their way back to regional counties.

“Those who were not careful went home the following day, and some of them have since returned to South African having realised that they had done that prematurely when violence is still rife in the ground,” Mr Shumba said.

The parties have failed to agree on the allocation of the key ministries of Finance and Home Affairs.