A controversial Home Office deportation charter flight to Zimbabwe that took off at about 10.30pm on Wednesday evening with 14 passengers on board has landed in Harare.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Dr Frederick Shava said an initial group of 50 will be arriving in the country Thursday and there are no reasons for persecuting any of the returnees, unless they have pending court cases.
He was responding to claims from some non-governmental organisation that Zimbabwe intends to persecute some of the returnees.
“The government is expected to receive its citizens because they are Zimbabweans and they are being sent back in the same way we have received other deportees from South Africa, from Botswana, wherever Zimbabweans are and that country has a problem with them and they want to send them back and we accept them,” he said.
Dr Shava said the returnees will be in quarantine as per Covid-19 regulations.
“If need be they are going to be quarantined for a period and then they can go to join their families.
“There is no reason for anyone to persecute them unless a certain individua had a pending case which had not been finalized in Zimbabwe.”
“They are certainly coming back tomorrow. A group of 50 are coming tomorrow. They have a total of 150 they say, but we are getting 50 at a time. There are no cases that we know of right now that will lead to anyone being persecuted,” he said.
The returnees are said to have been given 2000 British pounds for resettlement as they leave the United Kingdom.
