Humanitarian groups will assist Zimbabweans expelled from SA

Humanitarian groups have begun implementing contingent plans to assist Zimbabwean migrants, who may be forcibly expelled from South Africa after the end of a 2-year moratorium on deportations of illegal immigrants from its neighbour.

The moratorium on deporting illegal Zimbabweans has quietly been lifted by the South African Department of Home Affairs, leading to an outcry from refugee rights groups. No deportations of Zimbabweans had taken place for almost two years while Home Affairs were running the Zimbabwe Documentation Project to offer legal status to Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa.

Organisations working with migrants are angry that the department has not been open about a memo that was circulated among the police, army and refugee offices on September 27 explaining that deportations would resume.

The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa said it was placing its network, which includes lawyers and health practitioners, on standby, to "respond quickly" to ensure that police and other state agents uphold the human rights of immigrants arrested for not having permits to stay in South Africa.