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ZIMBABWE is fast becoming hell for foreigners who seek asylum as scores of them are literally filling up Harare central remand prison.
This emerged during a tour of the prison facility by the newly appointed deputy Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Obert Gutu.
As prisoners were given a chance to air their views, a Zambian stood up to describe the torment he had been put through since his arrival.
“I came here in May and sought asylum and I was given instructions on what to do,” he said.
“However I was soon arrested and thrown here in ‘D’ Class section, which houses notorious and dangerous criminals.”
The Zambian national, who did not give his name and seemed knowledgeable on conventions governing human and refugee rights, said he was arrested on May 2 and since then he has been wallowing in remand prison without any help forthcoming.
“I am being treated like a criminal, with leg irons and all. My crime is seeking asylum in Zimbabwe,” he continued.
Another foreigner, a national from the Democratic Republic of Congo also narrated how he was arrested on his way to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) offices in Harare, and arraigned before the courts.
“The first time I went to the courts there was a language barrier since in DRC we speak French and I could not understand a word of English. I was told to come back some other time,” he said.
On his return he was fined US$100, which he claims was paid for by a Good Samaritan, since he did not have any money.
“I am running away from war and wish to be taken to the refugee camp, I have no relatives in Zimbabwe and I have no money. I wonder why I am being kept here,” he said.
The main refugee camp is Tongogara, south east of the country, which houses about 5 000 refugees.
There are reports, however, of social tensions and sexual violence being on the rise, with Burundians being expelled from the country for formenting violence.
The remand prison is also teeming with a number of Somalis, who seemed quite happy and expectant that the deputy minister could help them in their quest for freedom and asylum.
One spoke with the help of an interpreter and chronicled how they had fled war-ravaged Somalia, hoping to find asylum in Zimbabwe.
He said they would be quite grateful if Gutu could help them.
The Somali said they were in the company of children and a 72-year-old woman, when they sought asylum in the country.
On the other hand, there were some foreign prisoners, who said they had served their prison terms but were still being kept in remand for no reason.
“I have served 10 years in Zimbabwe and when I asked why I am not being set free I was told to raise an air fare to South Africa.
“I have been here for a long time and since my relatives do not know where I am how can I raise the amount,” a Zambian inmate said.
Speaking in fluent Shona, as if in testimony of the long time he has been in prison, the Zambian said since there was no direct flight between Zimbabwe and his country, immigration authorities said he had to buy an air ticket to South Africa and another one to Zambia as the only way to win his freedom.
“(Deputy) minister I beg you please help me, as I can only raise bus fare. I have served my time and I deserve to be free,” he pleaded.
An Ethiopian, is also wallowing in a similar predicament. He was arrested in Zimbabwe in 2006 and is yet to be brought before the courts.
Another inmate spoke on behalf of the Ethiopian, Ebrahim Gebrselassie, who did not seem conversant in English and Shona, saying for the past four years he was being told he would be extradited to South Africa, where he was to face murder charges.
“We are always told that he will be sent to South Africa but four years is a long time to wait and it seems nothing is being done to have him sent there,” the inmate said.
Gutu, seemed shocked at the stories he was told and was often out of answers for the foreign prisoners, who had anticipated his visit.
“I am told immigration is looking at your issues and very soon things will be sorted out,” he said to the prisoners who had served their time and were waiting to be either deported or extradited.
However, there were murmurs of disgruntlement from some prisoners, when he told the asylum seekers that the reason for their prolonged incarceration was probably due to the fact that security checks were being conducted on them.
Gutu was, however, non-committal on how long the process would take but assured the foreigners that their issue would be looked at.
He said his visit had not been about personal experiences but rather about the infrastructure.
Contacted for comment on the issue of foreign prisoners, co-minister of Home Affairs, Theresa Makone pleaded she be left alone.
“I am begging you please leave me alone, that is all I am asking, let me rest,” she pleaded.
Labour and Social Services minister Paurina Mpariwa said she was not aware of cases of refugees being detained for trying to seek asylum in Zimbabwe.
Efforts to establish the number of refugees in the country’s prisons were futile as the UNCHR representative to Zimbabwe Marcelin Hepie was unavailable.
However, Zimbabwe could be afoul of a number of conventions governing the treatment of refugees and displaced people.
Article 31 of the Refugee Convention states that refugees should not be penalised for having entered a country illegally if they come from a place where they were in danger and have made themselves known to authorities.
This article further states that asylum seekers should not be detained for destroying or carrying forged identity documents.
Refugees are entitled to the same treatment afforded to locals and their human rights should be respected, says the article.
Zimbabwe’s prisons are notorious for being under-funded with reports that inmates go for days without food.
The Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund have since chipped in to ease chronic food shortages.
As one inmate pointed out, the diet at the remand prison is almost exclusively made up of beans and sadza and sometimes they are limited to one meal a day.
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
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