Britain gathers evidence against asylum seekers

(The Herald, ):-

A high-level British delegation from the Home Office and Foreign Office is in Zimbabwe to gather evidence to use against locals calling themselves asylum seekers who are contesting their deportation in the British High Court. A highly-placed diplomatic source told The Herald that the British government asked for a postponement of the case lodged by three Zimbabweans in order to gather evidence to successfully defend its decision to deport the purported asylum seekers. British embassy spokesperson Gillian Dare confirmed the presence of the delegation in the country, saying it was here to assess a range of immigration and nationality issues. "This is a routine visit by officials from the Home Office and Foreign Office. Similar visits take place to other countries. The visit is concerned with a range of immigration and nationality issues. "They will be here until the end of the week," she said. She, however, refused to disclose the names of members of the delegation or its size. British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair is under increasing pressure to deport illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers. The pressure intensified after the London bombings which coincided with theng of the Group of Eight richest countries (G8) summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in the first week of July. Mr. Blair, whose popularity is at an all-time low, has adopted a hard-line stance against illegal immigrants. Prior to the bombings, some Zimbabweans at detention centres across the United Kingdom went on hunger strikes to influence public opinion against their pending deportation, but received little sympathy. The Herald understands that this forced the purported asylum seekers to pursue the legal option. The source said the British delegation is keen to come up with a report that would expose the lies told by these illegal immigrants - who allege that their lives will be in danger if they return to Zimbabwe - in order to gain asylum status. Mr Blair has already said they do not face any danger in Zimbabwe despite the fact that London and the opposition MDC encouraged thousands of Zimbabweans to seek asylum in the UK on the basis of false claims of persecution back home by the Government and Zanu-PF.

 
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp