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Zim Association appeals for calm as lawyers seek to appeal asylum ruling

You can find the full text of the determination a week on deportations to Zimbabwe at: www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIAT/2006/00061.html

The Zimbabwe Association is urging failed asylum seekers to tread with caution as the Refugee Council continues to pore through the recent tribunal ruling giving the British government the green light to deport Zimbabweans refused refugee status here.

In an interview yesterday, Sarah Harland of the Zimbabwe Association said at the moment the Refugee Council is studying the ruling delivered by Justice Hodge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) giving the UK government the right to resume deporting failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers who have been fighting tooth and nail to avoid being sent home since last year.

The asylum seekers and their representatives have until Wednesday next week to apply for permission to appeal against the ruling.
"The RC is currently working on applying for permission to launch an appeal - they are basically trying to identify whether errors of law have been made in the ruling then when that is done they can appeal," said Harland.

"We may or may not be given permission but what we are saying is that people must remain calm and adhere to their reporting conditions because as far as we know those people who have been picked up and put into detention - those had to do with criminal offences, nothing more. So people need to remain calm and avoid the situation we had last year of a failed asylum seeker committing suicide because he did not want to be deported back home as he feared for his life."

The ruling, which said a failed asylum seeker returned involuntarily to Zimbabwe did not face on return a "real risk of being subjected to persecution or serious ill-treatment on that account alone" has created tension within the Zimbabwean refugee community in the UK.

Some failed asylum seekers have stopped going to report as is required by the law at their nearest police stations fearing detention and inevitably, forced removals.

At least four people are said to have been detained following the ruling.

Harland said the failed asylum seekers must not panic and take hasty decisions that may affect their claims in the long run.
"We need to take things slowly because there are still these legal steps that are being taken - there are processes going on right now so we are not likely going to have massive removals until they are exhausted," said Harland.

She said those going to report should take precautions and make sure someone had their lawyer's number in case they were detained.

The ruling set out other two further risk categories for the new country guidelines for immigration authorities dealing with Zimbabwean asylum cases - those with a military background and those with outstanding and unresolved criminal issues in Zimbabwe.

Also to be protected from deportation are known opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists and teachers "with an actual or perceived political profile of support for the MDC".

Harland said the ruling was not as bad as many were putting it since it actually widened the base for the people who can be covered when applying for asylum in the UK from Zimbabwe. Most people can actually launch fresh claims or appeals under the new ruling.

Meanwhile representatives of various organisations representing Zimbabweans in the UK met last night to map the way forward following the ruling. The community leaders are expected to meet Home Office officials soon to discuss the plight of the failed asylum seekers.
www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=830&cat=1

ZIMBABWEAN NAMED 2006
HUMAN RIGHTS LAUREATE

Arnold Tsunga, a Zimbabwean lawyer and human rights activist, has been named co-winner of the 2006 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The other winner is Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji.

The annual award is one of the most prestigious in the human rights field, and is normally given to an individual who has demonstrated an exceptional record of combating human rights violations by courageous and innovative means. The award comes with a 20,000 Swiss Francs (US$16,500) grant to be used for further work in human rights.

Tsunga is Chairman of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights), Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), and a trustee of the radio station Voice of the People (VOP), which produces independent programmes on political issues. He has been threatened and harassed on several occasions for criticising Zimbabwe's legal system and calling attention to human rights abuses. In January 2006, he and five other VOP trustees were arrested and charged with broadcasting without a licence. While he has since been released on bail, Tsunga faces two years in prison if convicted.

Akbar Ganji was released from prison on 18 March 2006 after serving a jail sentence of almost six years. As a journalist for the former newspaper "Sobb-e-Emrooz", Ganji wrote articles linking Iranian officials to the 1998 assassinations of political opponents, writers and journalists. During his imprisonment, he staged several hunger strikes and was beaten by guards. Ganji has won numerous human rights awards, including the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom and the CJFE International Press Freedom Award.

UK immigration minister loses job over
sex-for-asylum scandal

BRITISH Home Secretary John Reid was forced to reshuffle his ministers Monday night after a Zimbabwean teenager blew the whistle on a sex-for-asylum scandal at Britain's biggest asylum processing centre.

In the emergency reshuffle, immigration minister Tony McNulty lost his job and was moved sideways to take over as policing minister, previously held by Liam Byrne who takes over from McNulty.

Zimbabwean support groups who have been working with asylum seekers celebrated McNulty's ouster, describing him as "deeply prejudiced" against Zimbabwean asylum seekers.

Reid faced a barrage of questions from MPs on Monday, a day after the 18-year-old Zimbabwean woman -- only identified as Tanya -- went to the newspapers with the story of a senior immigration officer who asked her for sex in return for a speedy processing of her asylum claim.

The allegations centre on the activities of James Dawute, 53, a chief immigration officer at Lunar House, Croydon, South London, who is alleged to have made contact outside office time with Tanya.

In conversations recorded by The Observer newspaper, the officer is reported to have said that he knew “how to win her case”. He is reported as telling the young woman: “I am going to make love to you.”

Her allegations are particularly embarrassing because two months ago the Home Office completed an official inquiry into similar claims at Lunar House, an IND office that deals with inquiries from the public, after similar reports in The Sun. It found that there was no systematic sex-for-visas racket.

Zimbabwean campaign groups have expressed profound dissatisfaction with McNulty, and his ouster was celebrated as an opportunity to engage new officials on how to deal with Zimbabwean asylum seekers.

One Zimbabwean immigration lawyer said: "Our problem with McNulty is that he hasn't done much for Zimbabwean asylum seekers. So many representations have been made to his office, including a request for Zimbabwean asylum seekers to be allowed to work while their asylum claims are being processed because of their unique situation.

"McNulty has always insisted in his personal capacity that it is safe to return Zimbabwean asylum seekers home. He was deeply prejudiced against Zimbabweans."

The lawyer added: "The final straw was when he authorised officials from his department to arm-twist British-funded NGOs in Zimbabwe to back the Home Office's contention in the AA case that Zimbabwe is a safe destination to return asylum seekers."

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