I come from Bulawayo. I am 29 years old.… I worked in a construction company… in Johannesburg. I border jumped. I have no work permit.… I’m still at that job. I got arrested last week on Saturday in Johannesburg.… There was a cross-fire. I was trying to run away. Police said, “Okay, you’re not part of them. But where’s your ID?” They took me to Brixton station on Saturday. At Brixton I was treated okay, except for not having food, except for Monday [when] they gave us four slices of bread. On Monday, they released me and put me in Lindela. At Lindela we ate nothing.… Then from Lindela we were deported the same day by train to Musina.… They [the police] didn’t give me time to collect my belongings at home [when he was arrested]. I arrived in Musina on Tuesday morning. They deported us to Beitbridge from the Musina station. In Beitbridge police station [Zimbabwe], we were kept there 20 minutes. We were told to go home. There was no paper work.… From there we tried to come back on Thursday and we were caught. There were about 15 in our group. Most in the group were those who were deported.… On Thursday around 1 a.m. we crossed the border. From the border crossing point, we walked from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.… We hired a car in Musina. It was around 1 p.m. We were caught at Louis Trichardt [Makhado]. It was past 4 p.m. Traffic cops stopped the car. They asked the driver if he had papers. The police just happened to arrive. They asked for our papers. We said we didn’t have. They took us to Louis Trichardt station. After some minutes, they wrote down our names and brought us here, Musina. We’ve been here since yesterday. We arrived in Musina yesterday at about six in the afternoon. There was no food.… We have had no food this morning. We slept on the ground.… What they want is just for you to go home. At least something should be done for people who work. It is illegal, but we are working. I’m now owed about R400 for the week I worked. If I get back, maybe I can get that money. I’m now being paid R80 per day. South Africans are getting paid R150 per day and usually we are the ones who know the job. Many people from Zimbabwe just want work. They really don’t care about conditions. I got “O” levels in Zimbabwe. The conditions I’m working in are not suitable for “O” levels. South Africans are mostly uneducated. The situation in Zimbabwe is terrible. You’d rather die on the road here. You can’t just sit there. —Human Rights Watch interview with an undocumented Zimbabwean awaiting deportation, Musina police station, April 28, 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18, NO. 6(A) 30