13 000 Zimbabweans deported from Botswana

Some 13 199 Zimbabweans were deported from Botswana between January and September this year.

During the same period last year 18 387 illegal Zimbabweans were kicked out from the same country.

However, Botswana is expected to send more Zimbabweans home next year as Zimbabweans might flee violence in the run up to elections next year.

It has been reported that most of the deportees from Botswana were nabbed from door to door inspections. Figures obtained from the Plumtree Reception and Support Centre in Zimbabwe near the border with Botswana indicate that on average, about 100 deportation cases are handled daily.

Activity at the Beitbridge border linking Zimbabwe and South Africa is higher with indications that in 10 months, South Africa deported 40,000 Zimbabweans. The deportations are in batches through buses loaded at Lindela Detention Centre in Johannesburg. On deportation day, the Beitbridge border post facilitates handle the transfer of more than a 1,000  Zimbabwean illegal immigrants.

Despite being rounded up, the deportees return to Botswana and South Africa within a short period because they do not see a future in Zimbabwe. Unemployment is hovering well above 90 percent, about two million people are faced with starvation and extended families depend on support from the illegals.