SW Radio Africa
Thezimbabwean.co.uk
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:31 CDT
In a post-cabinet announcement on Thursday, South African government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that deportations to Zimbabwe will commence after the 31st December this year, also adding that a special dispensation put in place for Zimbabweans will cease to operate. Under this dispensation Zimbabweans could enter South Africa and work for a total of three months before renewing the temporary permits.
The moratorium on deportations was introduced in April last year, a few months after the formation of the unity government in Zimbabwe. The special dispensation was also announced in an effort to control the number of Zimbabweans crossing illegally into South Africa, fleeing the humanitarian crisis and economic meltdown back home. It was hoped that a backlog of migrants seeking asylum status in South Africa would ease if Zimbabweans in the country were given special documents. It is estimated that there are up to four million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, but because of fears of deportations most did not apply for official documentation from Home Affairs.
It was widely believed that the moratorium on deportations was a temporary measure while the government worked at providing the special dispensation permits. But according to refugee rights group PASSOP, those permits were never issued, and most Zimbabweans in South Africa remain undocumented. PASSOP's Braam Hanekom told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that Zimbabweans are still unsuccessfully trying to apply for refugee status. He explained that while there are certain permits that migrants can apply for from the government, most Zimbabweans don't have the money for these applications.










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