Somali refugees sent back to Zim

Wednesday, 04 May 2011 22:32

Beitbridge Bureau Chief THE South African Immigration Department is sending back to Zimbabwe Somalis seeking refuge in that country amid reports of a looming malaria outbreak in Beitbridge border town. It is understood that South Africa is arguing that Zimbabwe should regularise the Somalis’ movement first before allowing them to cross into that country. However, health officials reported that the majority of the Somali refugees that were stranded at Beitbridge Border Post since Friday had a severe strain of malaria. Medical examinations carried out on 10 of the refugees indicated that most had malaria while two of them who were seriously ill were still admitted at Beitbridge District Hospital. The other eight were treated and discharged. According to Zimbabwean immigration officials at Beitbridge Border Post, the South Africans started sending the Somalis to Zimbabwe last Thursday. Previously, Ethiopians and Somalis seeking refugee in South Africa would be vetted on the Zimbabwean side and allowed passage into South Africa where they would apply for refugee status. The district civil protection committee on Tuesday resolved to round up all Somali refugees and take them into a temporary holding place. They are likely to be taken to Tongogara refugee centre in Chipinge. Committee chairperson, Mr Simon Muleya, who is also the district administrator, said the situation, needed urgent attention before it went out of hand. Mr Muleya said they were still consulting with the national refugee committee on the way forward. “We are very worried about this development whereby the South African immigration department started turning away the Somali refugees at their border insisting they would not assist them if they are undocumented. “We are still consulting with the national executive while we also call for inter-governmental interventions between the governments of Zimbabwe and South Africa. “If this situation is not addressed urgently, we are at risk of a severe malaria epidemic. This scenario is a real cause for concern and as a committee we are going to do everything necessary to assist these people. “These people have started wandering in the town where they are asking for food and that is not pleasing as they are putting the community at risk of contracting malaria. “We will also engage other partners such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organisation for Migration, local government and other security agencies. “In the interim, we are going to put them in a temporary holding place where they will all be decontaminated of malaria while efforts to address their plight are being made,” he said. Although South Africa deported the Somalis, it was difficult for Zimbabwe to chase them away as the country was bound by the international refugees’ protocols to offer them assistance. Mr Muleya said IOM and other human rights and refugee organisations were still engaging the South African government on the matter. Police officer commanding Beitbridge District Chief Superintendent Hosiah Mukombero also said the group posed a security threat as they were now roaming around the town while others had even disappeared from the border. “These people are now pausing a security threat and we need to act as soon as possible before the situation goes out of hand,” he said. www.herald.co.zw