afrol News, 30 June - South Africa has received more criticism for down-playing the Zimabwean crisis, following Saturday's deportation of an estimated 450 refugees back home, where they had fled violence and economic hardships.

Human rights groups, have said the move was in direct violation of international as well as South African laws which guarantee the right to seek asylum.

About 450 Zimbabweans, men, women and children, said to have crossed into South Africa in recent days were kept at a border detention centre, only an international aid group to find they were deported overnight on Saturday.

The deportations were "unacceptable" and "in violation of international as well as South African law, which guarantee a right to seek asylum," said Rachel Cohen, head of the South African branch of the aid group Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

The organization said one of its teams visited the centre on Friday, but when the aid team returned Saturday with supplies, it found the centre empty, the agency said in a statement, adding South African authorities had confirmed all the Zimbabweans were sent back.

"Hundreds of people have been sent back into the country from which they fled, without any recognition of their right to seek asylum," Ms. Cohen said.

Media reports have quoted, Siobhan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Home Affairs, having said that foreigners caught at the border are screened to determine their status.

"I don't know the particulars of this case; my assumption would be that they would be in the country illegally and do not qualify for refugee status and therefore were returned to Zimbabwe," Ms. McCarthy said.

About 3 million Zimbabweans are estimated to be in South Africa. Some have been in for years, while many come and go regularly, either for small part-time jobs or shopping trips to buy goods scarce in their economically ravaged country.

South Africa views most Zimbabweans crossing its border as economic migrants, not refugees, and many applications by asylum seekers have been turned down, explained Ms. McCarthy, adding that South Africa was reviewing its policy of sending economic migrants home, mindful that powerful forces spur Zimbabweans and others to come to the region's economic hub. Another reason for change of policy were findings by government that there was lack of capacity in managing the deportations, as there were more immigrants coming in than those sent back home.

Zimbabweans were amongst groups highly targeted in recent xenophobic attacks by South Africans who claim foreigners are stealing jobs and using scarce resources.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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