Zimbabwean "exodus"

[Baba Ahmed]

"Plans needed for Zimbabwe exodus The head of the UN refugee agency has told the BBC that contingency plans are needed in case the exodus of refugees from Zimbabwe increases.

Antonio Guterres called for increased assistance from the international community to help Southern Africa cope.

He said the UNHCR estimates that there are more than three million displaced Zimbabweans in the region. More and more people are fleeing the worsening economic and political situation in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are struggling to find even the most basic goods on shop shelves, as an economic crisis pushes inflation above 4,500% and unemployment is estimated at more than 80%.

Mr Guterres has just begun a four-day tour of Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa to assess the refugee situation, where he said the situation was complex.

There are many people seeking asylum in the region, and it is often difficult to tell who is a migrant, refugee, smuggler and trafficker, he said.

Vulnerable

Mr Guterres told the BBC's Network Africa that refugees come into neighbouring countries "because they need to survive to a certain extent, to find food security, to try to find some kind of economic activity that they cannot find in their own country."

And in those cases, such as the one with Zimbabweans in Southern Africa, more needs to be done by the international humanitarian community to provide assistance to the most vulnerable, he explained.

"So we have worked together with our offices in the region to be prepared for things that we hope will not happen."

Mr Guterres said that movement out of Zimbabwe has been happening for many years, but that because of the recent unstable situation, more people have fled.

He also said the general attitude in Southern Africa toward refugees was a positive one - asylum systems are being developed, several countries are offering the possibility of local integration and authorities are sharing resources.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch criticised the leaders of Southern Africa for failing to take concrete measures to meet the crisis in Zimbabwe at their recent summit, describing it as a squandered opportunity. The opposition in South Africa has called for refugee camps to be established, but the government has said they are not needed.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Africa | Plans needed for Zimbabwe exodus

Published: 2007/08/21 11:45:06 GMT

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

"Plans needed for Zimbabwe exodus The head of the UN refugee agency has told the BBC that contingency plans are needed in case the exodus of refugees from Zimbabwe increases.

Antonio Guterres called for increased assistance from the international community to help Southern Africa cope.

He said the UNHCR estimates that there are more than three million displaced Zimbabweans in the region. More and more people are fleeing the worsening economic and political situation in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are struggling to find even the most basic goods on shop shelves, as an economic crisis pushes inflation above 4,500% and unemployment is estimated at more than 80%.

Mr Guterres has just begun a four-day tour of Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa to assess the refugee situation, where he said the situation was complex.

There are many people seeking asylum in the region, and it is often difficult to tell who is a migrant, refugee, smuggler and trafficker, he said.

Vulnerable

Mr Guterres told the BBC's Network Africa that refugees come into neighbouring countries "because they need to survive to a certain extent, to find food security, to try to find some kind of economic activity that they cannot find in their own country."

And in those cases, such as the one with Zimbabweans in Southern Africa, more needs to be done by the international humanitarian community to provide assistance to the most vulnerable, he explained.

"So we have worked together with our offices in the region to be prepared for things that we hope will not happen."

Mr Guterres said that movement out of Zimbabwe has been happening for many years, but that because of the recent unstable situation, more people have fled.

He also said the general attitude in Southern Africa toward refugees was a positive one - asylum systems are being developed, several countries are offering the possibility of local integration and authorities are sharing resources.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch criticised the leaders of Southern Africa for failing to take concrete measures to meet the crisis in Zimbabwe at their recent summit, describing it as a squandered opportunity. The opposition in South Africa has called for refugee camps to be established, but the government has said they are not needed.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Africa | Plans needed for Zimbabwe exodus

Published: 2007/08/21 11:45:06 GMT

Overall, the situation is Zimbabwe is not surprising considering that the Europeans still have strong hold despite the 1980 Declaration of Independence. When I found out from some of my African friends that European Farmers were refusing to relinquish land that they had stolen ingenious Zimbabweans prior to 1980, I knew instantly there would be trouble.

[Auset32]

Originally Posted by MadameX

Overall, the situation is Zimbabwe is not surprising considering that the Europeans still have strong hold despite the 1980 Declaration of Independence. When I found out from some of my African friends that European Farmers were refusing to relinquish land that they had stolen ingenious Zimbabweans prior to 1980, I knew instantly there would trouble.

The problems Zimbabwe is suffering from are the boycotts by the West. Ever
since the attempt to restore land to the landless, the west has set in motion
the embargo. I was in Zimbabwe 2006 and I hear things are 10,000 times worse. South Africa has many refugees from Zimbabwe living in Soweto and they don't have work papers so they can't work. Its a problem the West is trying to solve by starving Zimbabwe so they will get rid of Mugabe,thus keeping the land with the Whites.

Auset32

[Baba Ahmed]

Yes, I'm in touch with a Zimbabwean sista, who was scheduled to begin grad studies at NYU in Sept. She's afraid to leave her family in present environment. And inflation is rising skyward! Example: her father sold a house for a 1/4 Million U.S.D. and had to buy another w/i a few days. Otherwise his $250,000 wouldn't cover purchase price for a similar house just sold!

Her mama 'n nem are advising her to leave; they compromised; if conditions are similar in Oct., she'll be here. Zimbabwe's problems are now internal and external. Mugabe's hand is being forced into extreme actions. And the Zimbabwe young & restless generation - i.e., the mainly euro-centric educated professionals - are anti-Mugabe and even hesitate to donate monies to a Zimbabwe Youth Farming Project, claiming corruption! While in reality it is this "class" who've fought against him for years. They mainly euros didn't want to leave the umbrella of Queen of England's (& the EU) colonialism.

Black rulership not orchestrated by Amerikkka and the EU is unacceptable.

One way we can help is to donate money, farming equipments, technical aid etc to the Zimbabwe Youth Farming Project. And I guess put pressure on your local and federal representatives.

Medase
Kwame

[Auset32]

Hotep,
When we were in Zimbabwe we were introduced to some of the faculty of the university mainly the communication department. They tried to explain
what was going on and why. We went to visit two farms, all we had time for, and in speaking to the farmers the only complaint was no fuel. Because of the embargo Oil/gas was extremely difficult to obtain. Without fuel the big machines were useless. Some of the machines had been destroyed before they took over the farm. The farmer we spoke to had worked on the same farm for fifteen years, so he knew how to farm.He was able to farm enough for the families on the farm but not enough to export or sell.
Where ever we went we carried gas in cans for our use. This was not the case in 1989 when I was there before. We also met an American professor working there and she had planned to travel with us but had no gas. She is back in the states now and she can tell what is going on. She lived there for two years.
This land question is critical to the West if they want to continue their ill-gotten gains because the big question is South Africa!!!!!
Auset32

[Auset32]

Clear link between land dispossession during colonial era and poverty among nomadic groups



Photo © Imani Media Ltd
We Africans, we are the ones with the right to claim for the land…it is our land and it belongs to us.

Francis Asike, Spokesperson for the Lekiji Community
The seizure of prime land in Kenya by white settlers taken during the colonial era and the land grabbing which occurred post independence by powerful black elites are responsible for abject poverty among indigenous and nomadic communities in Kenya today.

The story of the poverty caused by land dispossession, abuse of local workers by ranch owners, harassment, intimidation and other human rights violations are told in a new documentary called Stolen Heritage: Land, Poverty and the Legacy of British Colonial Rule in Kenya, released by human rights organization Imani Development Ltd.

Millions of acres of prime land was seized in Kenya during the colonial era and sold to white settlers for next to nothing. Most of the land in the Lakipia District, an area of about 2.5 million acres once belonged to the Maasai. The name Lakipia is in fact the name of a Maasai clan.

During the colonial war in the 1950s when many black Africans resisted colonial oppression, aside from the well-publicised Mau Mau resistance, the Maasai also fought vigorously to preserve their way of life and when other ethnic groups were recruited to fight on the side of the British, many of them found themselves fighting against powerful Maasai warriors.

Many Maasai also fled to southern parts of Kenya to avoid British aggression and to avoid paying taxes that the British colonial administration imposed to fund the expansion of the white colonies. Today, of the 1 million Maasai that used to occupy the Lakipia Plateau, around 30,000 remain in the region. However, 65 per cent of the land that once belonged to the Maasai is today still occupied by whites, 44 years after independence.

Confined to small arid areas, the Maasai have insufficient land for grazing and are deprived of their pastoralist way of life. They are forced to work for very low wages – in some instances less than 50 pence per day, doing menial labour on ranches, some of which run wildlife safaris, flower farms and so-called ‘conservation’ units. Conditions inside the ranches are extremely poor with mainly men confined to small living spaces with no toilet facilities and separated from their families who are not allowed inside the ranches which are bordered by electric fences.

[Baba Ahmed]

What'd Omowale Malik Shabazz say: REVOLUTION IS ABOUT LAND! and its bloody!!!