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SOUTH AFRICA: ZIMBABWEANS NOT RECOGNISED AS REFUGEES

On 11 July, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) expressed its concern that
Zimbabweans fleeing violence at home were not being properly screened at the
South African border, leading to the possible deportation of refugees.

According to the UN agency, Zimbabweans coming to South Africa speak of killings and beatings and have brutal injuries all over their bodies.

Since the March presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe, the
number fleeing to South Africa has increased dramatically. In the last 40 days alone, South Africa has sent back some 17,000 Zimbabweans through the Beit Bridge border post, despite earlier calls from human rights organisations to halt all deportations. The organisations have also urged South Africa to grant
exceptionally Zimbabweans temporary legal status which would allow them to
stay in the country, an option which is foreseen in national legislation.

Of 35,000 Zimbabwean asylum seekers who arrived in South Africa in 2006 and
2007, only 500 have been recognised as refugees, according to government
data. UNHCR stated that given the number of daily deportations, its staff were could only interview some five percent.

JRS, working in South Africa since the late 1990s, has noticed the recent change in the displacement of Zimbabweans. In the past a huge percentage were young single people fleeing poverty at home, more and more the new arrivals consist of families fleeing political violence.

"The trend is changing, we are getting entire family units, many with physical
injuries, seeking asylum," said Thandi Hadebe, JRS South Africa project director in the northern border town of Mahkado in Limpopo province.

Since the start of June, this JRS office in the north of the country has helped
more than 200 Zimbabweans a day.

The majority of Zimbabweans are entering South Africa through unauthorized border points, risking their lives to navigate dangerous rivers, barbed wire fences and random police controls.

There are presently more than 138,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers
in South Africa, coming from a wide range of countries. Zimbabweans have also sought refuge in other countries.

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