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Zimbabwean refugees in SA a 'special case'
NGOs Forum
November 09, 2008

Zimbabwean refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa have been described as a special group that deserves special treatment by the host government. The call was made in a resolution to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) at the Forum on the participation of NGOs in the 44th Session of the ACHPR that ended on 9 November in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Southern African Centre for Survivors of Torture (SACST) noted the collapse in public order and breakdown of the rule of law in Zimbabwe and called for the unconditional granting of asylum to Zimbabweans in South Africa whether on economic or political grounds.

"We call upon the South African government to declare a moratorium on the deportation of Zimbabwean asylum seekers, whether documented or not, until a transitional authority is in place in Zimbabwe," said Francis Spencer, Head of Counselling at SACST during debate on the resolution.

According to Spencer, the South African department of Home affairs is denying Zimbabweans asylum based on the assumption that there is peace in Zimbabwe since the power sharing deal that is expected to initiate the peace building and reconciliation process had been signed.

SACST successfully defended the 'special case' status to be accorded to Zimbabweans against queries from other countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo that called for inclusion in the resolution on the grounds that not only Zimbabweans were being denied asylum in South Africa.

The SACS supported resolution, which awaits consideration by the ACHPR, also called on the commission to condemn the ongoing violence and torture taking place in Zimbabwe and call for the immediate end of persecution of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) activists.

The ACHPR is the human rights watchdog body in Africa that can call upon states to implement its resolutions or summon governments to appear before it on matters of human rights.

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