Dillema for UK-based Zimbabweans ahead of March 2 Deportation

Unconfirmed press reports indicate that the United Kingdom will, on March 2 2022, deport more Zimbabweans from the northwestern European country.

According to the online Zim Eye, a chartered jumbo jet which accomodates 150 people will leave the UK for Zimbabwe on the 2nd of March with the deportation flight expected to land in Harare the following day.

It is reported that the deportations were birthed by a secret pact entered into between President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government and the British Embassy in Harare. Reports also suggest that while the deportation is a joint operation to send back immigrants who have criminal records, concerns were flagged in 2021 that also included are Zimbabweans who have not breached any (non immigration) laws.

The Zim Eye also reported that the impending deportation on March 2 will for the first time include British Passport holders who have had their citizenship stripped because of crime, an impeccable source told ZimEye, without providing further detail.

The UK govt has recently drafted changes to its citizenship law so that it can without consultation revoke citizenship using the public interest criteria. Ironically, this comes at a time when Britain has begun giving Zimbabweans papers to work as carers.

At the time of writing, ZimEye had received reports of at least 6 Zimbabweans who at the time of writing had been taken into detention.

zimeye/Zwnews