The media has been abuzz with news about the planned deportation of Zimbabweans rounded up by the British Home office officials.

The planed deportations set for Wednesday 21 July will be the first mass deportation to Zimbabwe.

Some observers have criticised this operation describing it as “a grubby operation” that risks “delivering democracy activists to political persecution”.

However, it is worth pointing out that those rounded up are people with criminal convictions and those who have overstayed visas.

A commentator who spoke to Report Focus News said:

“Zimbabweans abroad particularly in the U.K. have become experts at lobbying and making all sorts of noise in the Media, nonetheless they neglect to point out factual detail.

Those being deported are said to be criminals who have served time. According to the British government these deportations are perfectly legal within the British law. It, therefore, goes without saying that in as much as some of these people claim to be activists that advocate for democracy, they broke the law in their host country.

Interestingly much noise has been made particularly by Zimbabweans, but these deportation operations are not specific to just those from Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe flight is the first in a series of long-haul mass deportations the Home Office hopes to run in the coming weeks, with flights to Jamaica, Vietnam, Nigeria and Ghana also planned.

An official from the British Home office who responded to our inquiry said:

“Foreign criminals who abuse our hospitality should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.”

“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.”

Meanwhile, activists fighting to stop these deportations argue that, “this process of mass deportation fails to take into account that structural racism is present within the Home Office, from the criminalisation of asylum seekers to the disproportionate policing of black communities. The Home Office also has a long and chaotic history of incorrect decision making, resulting in numerous people wrongly placed in detention or on removal flights.

Most disturbing about this move by the Home Office is that it shows no regard for the fact that the deportees’ lives are in danger when they get to Zimbabwe. In addition, the flight may be the result of a bilateral arrangement between the notorious government of Zimbabwe and the government of the United Kingdom. The clandestine and sinister nature of the operation, and the speed at which it is being executed, is designed to give anyone scheduled for removal little to no chance of access to legal representation.”

It remains to be seen whether the flight to Zimbabwe will take off and how those onboard will be received upon arrival in Zimbabwe.

Follow Report Focus News as we cover the developments.