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Written by: John Burke

Published: 01 June 2022

Last Updated: 05 June 2022

Hits: 1259

The United Kingdom’s cruel and hostile asylum environment has given rise to yet another Home Office plan to deport people to Zimbabwe on a flight chartered on 2^nd March 2022.

StatusNow4All^[1] These Walls Must Fall [https://detention.org.uk]., MyRight2Vote, BARAC UK, RAPAR, CCC, Zapu, ROHR and ZHRO^[2]  and other organisations abhors this decision, made in the name of the Home Secretary, Priti Patel. DOWNLOAD the PDF of this Petition NOW

It is immoral:

These are just some of the factors of note in relation to those who are being rounded up for deportation right now:

• Some have been here a long time, as many as twenty years; 
• Some will have had Refugee Leave, such was the compelling case they presented on arrival in UK, but the law, now, allow the Home Office to strip them of this, due to a conviction for particular offending behaviours [para 339 Immigration Rules].
• Deportation Orders are automatically made against people without British or Irish citizenship who have been given a prison sentence of more than a year
• Some of these people will have served their time in prison and on license like any other person with a conviction and have subsequently lived in the community for many years without re-offending – the bulk of these ‘crimes’ are old.
• They have been suffering the psychological damage and indignities of being on indefinite Immigration Bail with ankle tags, curfews, not allowed to work or study, and the ever-present threat of removal.
• Suicide amongst those in this situation is NOT uncommon.

  Read more: Stop these Deportations

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Written by: John Burke

Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 30 August 2024

Hits: 3338

• Human Rights Zimbabwe
• #ZanuPFMustGo
• Diaspora Vote
• Referendum

UPDATE: 30th August 2024 (nearly 3 years later!!) see link to the Referendum as a result of this protest {CLICK HERE}

This article is published at 14:15 today [Thursday 2nd December 2021] AFTER the Petition Hand-Over to Boris Johnson and Co at 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, London. SW1A 2AA. This will appear automatically to allow the public to see the body of our petition for themselves. We feel it is a matter for public debate, that the Regime who have ruled with an 'iron fist' for 41 years in Zimbabwe needs to be exposed due to corruption, mismanagment, vote rigging, the prevention of a diaspora vote and gross human rights abuses.

After 14:15 on the 2nd December 2021 link  to view the Petition itself - as it should be for the general public to see. NOW AVAILABLE - CLICK HERE

Thereafter we may walk to the FCDO Offices to shout about why their faith in Zanu PF and Emmerson D Mnangagwa, and the Zanu PF 'cabal' is entirely misplaced! We will do this another day as the temperatures in London today was only 3⁰C plus a modest wind-chill. We were all perishingly cold!

Order of the Day

We had congregated outside the Zimbabwe Embassy located at 429 The Strand, London WC2R 0JS from 11:00am onwards - or whatever time people arrived from all over the UK - those from Newcastle or Leeds, have got our sympathies for the length of journey. To keep costs down it is invariably by coach! Often leaving at midnight or the 'early' hours. Moses Mbano has done this trip several times! 

With us today were Chief Ndiweni and many other free thinking Zimbabweans, and other supporters of justice and freedom!

By 13:30 [1:30pm] we  moved off from the Embassy, via Trafalgar Square, to first Whitehall, then we congregated opposite the entrance to 10 Downing Street. We sang, danced and played the drum whilst we awaited the 14:00 timeslot to enter the security corden around 10 Downing St. A tale of woe for Moses Mbano [arriving from Newcastle], was that [strangely] the Home Office had prevented him from being in the 'Petitioner' group - therefore he was left outside at the Gate. 

Each of the [now 5] Zimbabwean petitioners, Chief F Nhlanhla Ndiweni, John Burke, Rashiwe Bayisayi and Sarah Bayisayi and Moses Mbano [left at the Gate as mentioned above] had been vetted by the Diplomatic Police Unit up to 10 days prior to entry. They had photo-ID with them to support that vetting process. On our Flickr Album Page 2nd Dec 2021 you can see their progress, and of the rest of the day as a photo-log plus a few videos too!

Once beyond the gate to Downing Street the petitioners were at liberty [and we encoraged them to do so see the photos on the Flickr Album above] -  to take photographs of themselves as a group and individually. Several of the photos at the door to Number 10, were actually taken by one of the Policemen there! 

After they returned to the main group situated opposite the entrance to Downing Street, the petitioners were greeted with cheers and more music! ...and dancing! see video on our Flickr page above!

It was at that stage that this pre-arranged article with its link to the PDF Petition document became publicly available arounf 14:15. Please read, consider and circulate.

A short video after the Petition was delivered is avialable at this link to our Flickr Album page for the 2nd December 2021. You may need to click the video for it to play. Some very wise words from Chief Ndiweni

Those who braved the cold on Thursday were as follows: Moses Mbano, who arrived from Newcastle at 8:00am; Elector Zvorwadza; Zenzo Sibanda; Junior Madimure; Sarah Bayisayi; Rashiwe Bayisayi; John Burke; Chief F Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, complete with Chief Badge/Insignia; Silvanos Mudzvova, our Playwright; Qiniso Sibanda, from Leeds; Beverley Mutandiro, our Political/Human Rights Liaison Co-ordinator; Stanley Tavaziva, for a flying visit; Chegika Phiri, from Doncaster; Emmanuel Dzingira, suffering bus delays; Handsen Chikowore and Tapiwa Muskwe.