The Independent newspaper reports that some Zimbabweans, who have lived in Britain for decades, are being targeted for deportation.
According to the newspaper, some failed asylum seekers with criminal records, are among hundreds of people expected to be sent back home.
The Independent reports that several organizations have written a petition urging the British government to halt the deportations amid fears that some of the people may be persecuted in Zimbabwe by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
The Zimbabweans are expected to be deported on Wednesday.
The newspaper quoted the spokesperson of the Home Office as saying it did not comment on operational matters, adding that “foreign criminals who abuse our hospitality should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.”
The spokesperson told the newspaper that any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity, “and since January 2019 we have removed 7,495 foreign national offenders.”