BRITAIN: Asylum seeker attempts suicide

On March 9, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker jumped out the window of her fourth floor flat when she found out that the government intended to deport her. The Home Office resumed deporting failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe in November, despite a UN recommendation that the country is still not safe for political dissidents. The asylum seeker, whose name has been withheld at her family's request, fled to Britain after her husband died from "illness" days after being taken into police custody. An opponent of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, she claims to have been raped and tortured by security forces. She is currently in hospital with spinal injuries, the Home Office has refused to confirm whether the deportation will go ahead.

From Green Left Weekly, March 16, 2005.

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From GLW issue 619