{"id":3819,"date":"2019-02-14T18:25:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T18:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/zimbabwe\/?p=3819"},"modified":"2019-02-14T18:25:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T18:25:28","slug":"its-wrong-to-deport-zimbabweans-who-sought-refuge-in-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/its-wrong-to-deport-zimbabweans-who-sought-refuge-in-britain","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s wrong to deport Zimbabweans who sought refuge in Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was British high commissioner, later ambassador, to Zimbabwe from 2001 to 2004 when the number of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in Britain reached a peak (Home Office under fire for sending asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe<\/a>, 13 February). I know why these people left.<\/p>\n

Many were fleeing from political persecution. Some were trying to escape a collapsing economy. But now, more than 10 years later, surely the principal consideration should be that, whatever their original motivation, the overwhelming majority of the Zimbabweans who came to Britain have settled peacefully and contributed to the social and economic life of this country. What possible harm does it do if they are allowed to stay?<\/p>\n

There is no suggestion that Zimbabwean immigrants have been involved in terrorism, organised crime, human trafficking or drugs cartels. Their only crime seems to be to want to build a new life for themselves.<\/p>\n

This disgraceful conspiracy by the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to return Zimbabweans against their will is just further evidence of the need for the home secretary to abandon this government\u2019s obsession with immigration numbers. We need an immigration system in which common sense and compassion outweigh blinkered and unfeeling ideology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was British high commissioner, later ambassador, to Zimbabwe from 2001 to 2004 when the number of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in Britain reached a peak (Home Office under fire for sending asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe, 13 February). I know why these people left. Many were fleeing from political persecution. Some were trying to escape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,35],"tags":[175,83,320,307],"class_list":{"0":"post-3819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"category-homepage-english","10":"tag-economic-collapse","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-relations","13":"tag-ukaide"},"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s wrong to deport Zimbabweans who sought refuge in Britain - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/its-wrong-to-deport-zimbabweans-who-sought-refuge-in-britain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s wrong to deport Zimbabweans who sought refuge in Britain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was British high commissioner, later ambassador, to Zimbabwe from 2001 to 2004 when the number of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in Britain reached a peak (Home Office under fire for sending asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe, 13 February). 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