A Zimbabwean newspaper has highlighted the Labour Party’s lies on “tighter immigration” by proudly announcing on its front page that Zimbabweans are to “benefit from the relaxation of UK immigration rules.”
“Thousands of Zimbabwean asylum seekers are to benefit from the relaxation of immigration laws by the British government,” The Zimbabwean newspaper announced in its 11 October edition.
“From July, the UK government quietly loosened the immigration rules for asylum seekers in order to clear a backlog of cases. The British government two years ago halted its policy of returning Zimbabwean asylum seekers because of the dire political situation,” the paper, which is run by a worldwide consortium of Zimbabweans, continued.
“SW Radio Africa can reveal that in the last few months, hundreds of failed asylum seekers from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC opposition party) were granted leave to remain in UK after their cases were reviewed on an individual basis,” the newspaper reported, adding that as a result of the changes, at least 40,000 “immigrants who had moved to the UK from Zimbabwe, Iran and other troubled countries have been told they can stay in the UK.”
According to the MDC’s organising secretary, Jaison Matewu, Home Office figures show that 20,000 Zimbabweans have applied for refugee status in Britain.
The 40,000 are among a backlog of 450,000 asylum cases which have overwhelmed the system, drawn to Britain by the benefits and handouts which are on offer, courtesy of the British taxpayer.
Most recently, immigration minister Phil Woolas endorsed a memo giving “asylum applicants” from countries with poor human rights records leave to remain here if they had been living in the UK for 4–6 years.
Last year, Zimbabwe had the second-highest number of people seeking asylum in industrialised countries, according to a United Nations report released in July. The report said the countries of origin showing a significant rise in applications for asylum due to unrest or conflict last year included Afghanistan, up 85 percent; Zimbabwe, up 82 percent; Somalia, up 77 percent; and Nigeria, up 71 percent.
