AP

Zimbabweans deported by Britain arrive at Harare airport

Jul 21, 2021, 5:46 PM | Updated: Jul 22, 2021, 10:40 am

A Zimbabwean National, centre, is escorted to the bus by a police upon his arrival upon arrival at ...

A Zimbabwean National, centre, is escorted to the bus by a police upon his arrival upon arrival at Robert Mugabe International airport in Harare, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Zimbabwe has received the first batch of dozens of its citizens being deported from Britain, some after staying in that country for decades and forced to leave families behind to face an uncertain future back home. Rights groups and politicians in Britain had mounted pressure to stop the deportations, arguing that the deportees are at risk of persecution in Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has received the first batch of dozens of its citizens being deported from Britain, some after staying in that country for decades and forced to leave families behind to face an uncertain future back home.

Rights groups and politicians in Britain had mounted pressure to stop the deportations, arguing that the deportees are at risk of persecution in Zimbabwe.

The first group of deported Zimbabweans was people convicted of committing crimes in Britain. The United Kingdom says it has a right to deport foreigners who commit serious crimes after they serve out their sentences. Zimbabwean authorities dismissed fears that the returnees would be persecuted.

On Thursday, 14 of the deportees arrived at the main airport in the capital, Harare, and were quickly put into waiting buses to go to a quarantine center where they will stay for 10 days before they can rejoin their families.

The first flight was supposed to carry 50 passengers classified as “foreign national offenders,” but the deportations of some were postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak at a detention center and ongoing legal processes, said Livit Mugejo, spokesman for Zimbabwe’s ministry of foreign affairs.

“Some were isolated and could not travel. Others lodged last-minute appeals arguing that they were supposed to be deported five years ago and that their circumstances have now changed so the courts there agreed to hear their cases,” he said.

“The deportations are ongoing. It’s only that the U.K. had temporarily halted them at some point but deportations are not unique. Some of these people committed crimes such as murder and rape so the U.K. or any other country has a right to deport them,” he said. He said, as an example, more than 200 Zimbabweans were deported from neighboring South Africa and Botswana last week.

Distraught relatives waited outside the Harare airport Thursday but were not able to meet the deportees.

Although there are no exact figures, scores of thousands left Zimbabwe for the U.K., the former colonial power, to escape a biting political and economic crisis at the turn of the century. Many Zimbabweans whose bids for asylum were rejected by Britain also face deportation.

In a separate development, Britain announced Thursday that it has put sanctions on a prominent Zimbabwean businessman and top ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Kudakwashe Tagwireyi, whose business interests span the breadth of Zimbabwe’s economy, has been put on the sanctions list, British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement posted on the U.K. government website.

The British government statement alleged that Tagwireyi profited from the “misappropriation of property when his company, Sakunda Holdings, redeemed Government of Zimbabwe Treasury Bills at up to 10 times their official value. His actions accelerated the deflation of Zimbabwe’s currency, increasing the price of essentials, such as food, for Zimbabwean citizens.”

Tagwireyi’s assets in the U.K. have been frozen and he is banned from traveling there as part of Britain’s Global Anti-Corruption sanctions targeting “corrupt individuals who have lined their own pockets through misappropriation, with their greed causing untold damage to the countries and communities they exploit,” said the statement.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

10 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

10 hours ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

11 hours ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

Zimbabweans deported by Britain arrive at Harare airport