The number of Zimbabweans seeking asylum in South Africa has increased dramatically since Robert Mugabe's police assaulted the country's opposition leaders on 11 March, experts say.South Africa has not officially recognised the human rights abuses of President Mugabe's regime so those seeking refugee status face a difficult, drawn-out process. The flow of Zimbabweans fleeing the country, both legally and illegally, has become a rush as food and fuel shortages grow and inflation - now at 4,000 per cent - is predicted to hit a staggering 1.5 million per cent by year end.
| Essentially Z-Bob dollars are worthless. |
At Beitbridge, the great Limpopo river divides the two countries. Here there are frequent reports of Zimbabweans drowning or being eaten by crocodiles as they try to cross. Currently, South Africa is sending back more than 4,000 Zimbabweans every week, up more than 40 per cent from 2006. These figures relate only to those who were caught and returned. There are no reliable figures on illegal migrants, it is widely estimated that 3.4 million Zimbabweans - a quarter of the population - have now fled.
| Proportionally that's far greater than the number of Mexicans in the U.S. illegally. |
'This is one of the busiest borders in Africa,' says Andrew Gethi, IOM's Beitbridge operations officer. The IOM office opened in May 2006 and has been overwhelmed. 'We expected to deal with 6,000 deportees per month, but the number was 12,000 and it has gone up to 17,000,' said Gethi. 'It is seven days a week. We get no breaks.'
South Africa delivers its deportees to the IOM office on the Zimbabwean side. They are offered a hot meal, counselling and transport home. Only 55 per cent accept: the rest immediately turn around and try again, according to officials who are powerless to stop them.
South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, conceded last May that the enormous human influx 'is something we have to live with'. He avoided describing the economic collapse, hunger and repression creating the refugees.
| Didn't want to embarrass his pal Bob. |
'I was with the opposition. They shot my dog in front of my children. They beat me and threatened to kill me. I was so scared of the government I didn't mind the danger from crocodiles or elephants.' Christopher found work on a farm. Human Rights Watch report that thousands of Zimbabweans face harsh conditions and abuse on South Africa's farms, yet no one opts to go back to Zimbabwe.
But as the number of exiles grows, so does resentment. 'They are taking our jobs. They are stealing. We should send them all back,' said Nepo Nkhahle, who runs a trucking business. 'I know it is not their fault. They don't know where their next meal is. But many South Africans are getting fed up with this.'