News / National
UK Care Visa Scheme hurting Zimbabweans
21 Sep 2025 at 08:10hrs | 189 Views
UK-based Zimbabwean nurse, author, and mental health advocate Angeline Moyo has warned that Britain's health and care worker visa scheme is doing more harm than good for many Zimbabweans, exposing them to exploitation, trauma, and mental health crises.
Moyo, whose works include Zimbabwe's Silent Crisis and After the Injection: A Memoir of Survival and Resistance, says policies intended to help vulnerable people have instead created a "pipeline of forced migration" and left many care workers in situations of abuse.
She highlights the case of Gaynor Fundira, a Zimbabwean woman detained under the UK's Mental Health Act, describing how her plea for help resulted instead in confinement:
"By the time the ward doors opened, her liberty had already been signed away. She asked for help, but what she got was a risk score, a file number, and months of being ‘managed' rather than heard," Moyo said.
Moyo questioned how many other Zimbabwean women have been sectioned under the same legislation, pointing to official figures showing Black people in England are detained at rates far higher than White people — 228 detentions per 100,000 compared with 64 per 100,000.
She also accused unscrupulous agencies of exploiting Zimbabwean carers, claiming many are forced to pay illegal fees of between £5,000 and £20,000 to secure jobs, only to face overcrowded housing, irregular hours, or no work at all.
Moyo draws on her own harrowing experiences, recounting years of racist bullying, being forcibly injected with antipsychotic medication, and spending over five years in secure mental health detention.
The warning comes amid a surge in migration from Zimbabwe to the UK. Between June 2022 and June 2023, Britain issued 20,152 health and care worker visas to Zimbabweans — a 372% increase since 2020. In the same period, more than 4,000 doctors and nurses left Zimbabwe, further weakening a system already stretched by drug shortages, low pay, and staff flight.
While the influx has helped fill NHS staffing gaps — with non-UK nationals now making up 20.4% of England's health workforce — it has also opened the door to widespread exploitation and mental health challenges. Many Zimbabwean workers report depression, isolation, and trauma, compounded by financial strain and dislocation from their families.
Moyo argues the system is failing in two key areas: weak regulation of recruitment and a lack of culturally competent mental health care.
"What we need now is trauma-informed, culturally competent mental health care… regulation of the carer visa scheme to prevent exploitation… and bilateral cooperation between the UK and Zimbabwe to protect human dignity," she said.
She has also called for transparent data on Zimbabwean detentions under the Mental Health Act and for Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED) to be formally recognised as a legitimate condition.
For Zimbabwe, the exodus of health professionals deepens an already dire crisis, with just 1.9 nurses per 1,000 people compared to the UK's 8.2. For Britain, reliance on foreign labour solves immediate shortages but raises ethical questions over draining talent from struggling nations.
"The result," Moyo warns, "is a cycle in which Zimbabwe bleeds professionals, while Britain grows dependent on their sacrifice."
Moyo, whose works include Zimbabwe's Silent Crisis and After the Injection: A Memoir of Survival and Resistance, says policies intended to help vulnerable people have instead created a "pipeline of forced migration" and left many care workers in situations of abuse.
She highlights the case of Gaynor Fundira, a Zimbabwean woman detained under the UK's Mental Health Act, describing how her plea for help resulted instead in confinement:
"By the time the ward doors opened, her liberty had already been signed away. She asked for help, but what she got was a risk score, a file number, and months of being ‘managed' rather than heard," Moyo said.
Moyo questioned how many other Zimbabwean women have been sectioned under the same legislation, pointing to official figures showing Black people in England are detained at rates far higher than White people — 228 detentions per 100,000 compared with 64 per 100,000.
She also accused unscrupulous agencies of exploiting Zimbabwean carers, claiming many are forced to pay illegal fees of between £5,000 and £20,000 to secure jobs, only to face overcrowded housing, irregular hours, or no work at all.
Moyo draws on her own harrowing experiences, recounting years of racist bullying, being forcibly injected with antipsychotic medication, and spending over five years in secure mental health detention.
The warning comes amid a surge in migration from Zimbabwe to the UK. Between June 2022 and June 2023, Britain issued 20,152 health and care worker visas to Zimbabweans — a 372% increase since 2020. In the same period, more than 4,000 doctors and nurses left Zimbabwe, further weakening a system already stretched by drug shortages, low pay, and staff flight.
While the influx has helped fill NHS staffing gaps — with non-UK nationals now making up 20.4% of England's health workforce — it has also opened the door to widespread exploitation and mental health challenges. Many Zimbabwean workers report depression, isolation, and trauma, compounded by financial strain and dislocation from their families.
Moyo argues the system is failing in two key areas: weak regulation of recruitment and a lack of culturally competent mental health care.
"What we need now is trauma-informed, culturally competent mental health care… regulation of the carer visa scheme to prevent exploitation… and bilateral cooperation between the UK and Zimbabwe to protect human dignity," she said.
She has also called for transparent data on Zimbabwean detentions under the Mental Health Act and for Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED) to be formally recognised as a legitimate condition.
For Zimbabwe, the exodus of health professionals deepens an already dire crisis, with just 1.9 nurses per 1,000 people compared to the UK's 8.2. For Britain, reliance on foreign labour solves immediate shortages but raises ethical questions over draining talent from struggling nations.
"The result," Moyo warns, "is a cycle in which Zimbabwe bleeds professionals, while Britain grows dependent on their sacrifice."
Source - pindula
