Botswana to repatriate Zim refugees
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 15, 2021 15:28
The refugees, who are resisting the relocation, are facing the predicament after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rejected their status.
They have been given 28 days to prepare themselves for repatriation despite their resistance to the move by the government. Their main contention is that they have families in Botswana and that it will be difficult for them to start life afresh in another country.
“I am writing this appeal to your office to highlight some of the issues, which make me under high risk of persecution if I am to return to Zimbabwe. As I stated in the interview I fled Zimbabwe due to extreme torture, severe beatings and numerous arrests. I feel I cannot return to Zimbabwe due to trauma and a near-death experience I had. The same authorities responsible for my torture are still in office and some of them even promoted to higher offices,” one of the refugees had stated.
Another refugee added his children are schooling in Botswana and his deportation will separate him from his spouse and children.
“I was the one who was providing for the family. Again our issue is not solved in our country. I fear for my life and we might get arrested once we arrive in the country,” the refugee said.
However, the chief mission, UNHCR Arvind Gupta in a letter dated January 3, 2021, gave reasons for the rejection of the status. Gupta rejected the refugees’ pleas on the ground that they have no reason to still want to stay in the country because there are no founded threats directed at them.
“We regret to inform you that UNHCR has determined that you do not hold a future well-founded fear of persecution if you were to return to Zimbabwe and are thus not eligible for international refugee protection under UNHCR’s mandate. UNHCR reached this conclusion based on the following reasons,” he said.
Gupta also stated that objective information indicates that the political space in Zimbabwe is improving and that the political environment has been described as being relatively fair concerning freedom of speech and association as well as the freedom to organise, campaign and access to media.
The letters state the environment for the civil society activism, opposition political party activities have changed significantly since November 2017, and at present, to conduct their activities leading to the conclusion that the climate for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other parties is fairly safe.
It further says the 2018 election results revealed that the main opposition being MDC Alliance had increased its voter base.
According to the letter, Zimbabwe held an appalling record as guarantees of human rights for its people were mainly attributed to serious strife due to political polarisation, a declining economy and frustrated citizenry.