A march and rally is due to be held in Westminster on Friday, to ask for asylum seekers from Zimbabwe to be given status and the right to work. It will begin in Parliament Square, outside Westminster Abbey, at 1pm.
The Strangers into Citizens rally is organised by London Citizens, the capital’s largest alliance of civic organisations. It follows a call by the Independent Asylum Commission, which has been conducting a two-year nationwide citizens’ review of Britain’s asylum system, for refused asylum seekers unable to return to their countries to be allowed to work.
Despite statements condemning the situation in Zimbabwe, the government continues to force Zimbabwean asylum seekers into destitution, and to tell them to return home.
It will be preceded by a special service at St Margaret’s Church Westminster Abbey, led by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu.
It follows an increase in reporting on the treatment of Zimbabwean asylum seekers in the UK. The weekend saw coverage in the Observer and Independent on Sunday:
The Observer: UK is sending 11,000 Mugabe refugees back
The Independent: From Mugabe's thugs to a life of poverty in Britain
