Zimbabwe And Asylum

Andrew at Non-Trivial Solutions says it all on Zimbabwe. Mugabe seems to be turning into Pol Pot - the last dictator who emptied the cities. Sending people back there only makes sense if they're armed and accompanied by tanks and aircraft.


The Pub Philosopher and A Tangled Web ask why Zimbabweans don't head over the Limpopo to the rainbow paradise next door, where thousands of Zimbabweans have found jobs. Until the South African Government deports them.

According to Refugees International, of 5,000 applications for political asylum, less than 20 have been granted.

But according to the Guardian's Andrew Meldrum, "More than 2 million Zimbabweans are currently sheltering in South Africa - about 15% of their country's population of 13 million."

So whether willingly or not, you can't say that SA's not doing its stuff.

UPDATE - Squander Two is even crosser than I.

"I believe that Tony Blair has done a considerable amount in the cause of freedom, and could be rightly proud of all he's done to combat tyranny — until this week. This one issue cancels all of that out. This is an evil act. I hope he dies."

Are you sure about that, S2 ? Post in haste, repent at leisure and all that ?

Anyway, your wish will be granted. We will all die one day. I hope he lives to a ripe old age ( shunned and despised by all right-thinking people).

Having no principles does make life confusing, though. Until a year or so back Blair's policy was to allow anyone who could get here to stay. People didn't like it, so he cut down the numbers - and now people don't like that either.

The problem, as usual, is numbers. If TB declares open house for Zimbabweans every African arriving will claim to be an MDC member. I'm surprised Mugabe hasn't started sending daily planeloads of opponents to Heathrow - that would present a tricky problem. He probably hasn't got the planes or the fuel - an aid-worker friend told me that Mugabe and entourage took over half the seats on her commercial flight from Harare to SA last year.