MIGRANT rights groups in South Africa have condemned raids targeting mostly Zimbabweans for deportation in the neighbouring country.
Media reports from South Africa indicate that sweeping immigration raids in the central business districts of most towns and cities on Monday resulted in the arrest of hundreds of undocumented foreign nationals.
The individuals were found working for local businesses such as restaurants without the necessary legal documents.
Indications are that this was not the only raid targeting foreign nationals, with most of the arrested said to be Zimbabwean nationals.
Global Immigration and Legal Consultancy legal director Gabriel Shumba said the raids were targeting mainly Zimbabweans.
“Secondly, much as we do not support irregular presence in South Africa, it should be noted that there are many hurdles placed on Zimbabweans to regularise their stay in South Africa and this is contrary to the dictates of the Constitution and the Promotion of Access to Justice Act in many instances,” Shumba said.
“Moreover, as in the case of those on the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit and asylum, there is a perception that there is a deliberate attempt to delegitimise those that have been lawfully staying in the country, for reasons that are, in many instances, found by the courts to be irrational and unjustified.”
Shumba said mass deportations were against international human rights standards and norms and, as such, they should be condemned.
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Last week, the Zimbabwean government said it was ready for potential mass deportation of its citizens from South Africa, with estimates saying that over a million Zimbabweans could be forced to return home.
Public Service deputy minister Mercy Dinha told lawmakers that her ministry was finalising renovations of the Beitbridge and Plumtree reception and support centres, “where returnees will be admitted and then reintegrated into the communities where they came from”.
“Our capability to handle any number of our returning citizens cannot be doubted as evidenced by our acquittal during the COVID-19 pandemic, where hundreds of thousands of returning citizens were successfully received and reintegrated into the country,” she said in Parliament last week.
Ahead of South Africa’s elections this year, some opposition parties promised to deport Zimbabweans and other Africans if they won the vote.
