The British government’s policy on deportation to Zimbabwe was thrown into serious doubt on Friday after a failed asylum seeker won his appeal against the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke.
The man, who cannot be named, would be at risk of harm if he were returned to President Robert Mugabe’s regime, the asylum and immigration tribunal ruled.
The decision will force the government to rethink its deportations policy to the southern African country.
Campaigners told the court earlier this month that people returned from the UK are regarded as ”spies” and ”traitors” by Mugabe’s regime. The tribunal was told that ministers had failed to properly assess the risk to failed asylum seekers sent back to Zimbabwe.
Mark Henderson, for the Refugee Legal Centre, said the Zimbabwe authorities considered those returned by the British government to be ”agents of regime change”.
He added that Clarke now seemed to accept that Zimbabweans were subjected to ”in-depth questioning” by Mugabe’s secret police, the CIO.
The high court is considering a judicial review of enforced returns to Zimbabwe but postponed the case on August 4 pending Friday’s decision of the tribunal. Deportations are currently on hold until both cases conclude.
”The evidence suggests that anyone associated with the British authorities and in particular someone who has sought their protection from Mugabe and Zanu-PF and their forces will be viewed, to say the least, with suspicion,” Henderson had told the tribunal.
”Indeed, the evidence not only as presented by ourselves but also presented by the secretary of state, refers to Zimbabwean authorities viewing such people as traitors, guilty of treachery and betrayal.” Steven Kovats, for the Home Office, told the earlier hearing that a delegation from the British government had visited Zimbabwe between September 4 and 12 to determine whether there was evidence of systematic abuse of returned Zimbabweans.
The home secretary had concluded that failed asylum seekers were generally not at real risk of ill treatment or persecution, he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â