CONTENTS
Page
Background
Executive summary
Method of compiling the report: data sources
Structure of the report
PART ONE: Zimbabwe’s biggest export: its people
1.
2.
3.
4.
The breakdown of law and order: torture with impunity
Youth militia
The “land revolution”
The humanitarian crisis
Political abuse of food
Maize and election 2005
Collapse of social services and the economy
Zimbabwe’s biggest export: its people
Pre-existing cross border movement
Internal loss of professional skills
Impact on essential services
“Harvesting” the exiles: Homelink
Implications of the exodus for democracy
Conclusions
PART TWO: Destination: South Africa: Legal, administrative and social issues
Involving refugees
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
“Asylum seekers” and “Refugees”: South Africa’s legal obligations
“Asylum seekers”
Work and Study
“Refugees”
Refugee status – a future based decision
Political denial of food – a threat to physical safety?
The battle for Zimbabwean refugee rights
Victimisation: a repeated experience in Zimbabwe
Attitude to Zimbabweans within Home Affairs RROs
Refugee Reception Office, Johannesburg: observation of current authors
Identification papers
Time taken for processing of asylum seeker claim
Lack of capacity in RROs
Length of permits: renewal stamps
Asylum seekers – a cash cow
Home Affairs – impunity in the system
Response of Home Affairs on corruption and capacity
Attitude of UNHCR to Zimbabweans
UNHCR and issues of resettlement: are Zimbabweans safe in South Africa?
Quiet diplomacy: at odds with acknowledging political refugees?
Perceptions of Zimbabweans: “Makwerekwere”
Zimbabweans and crime
Zimbabweans: victims of crime
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