The HRW attributed the mass exodus to the country’s worsening social, economic and political crisis characterised by acute food shortages, the cholera epidemic and little prospects for earning a livelihood.
Bill Frelick, refugee policy director for HRW, said in a statement: "What we are seeing is significant numbers of Zimbabweans who are crossing into South Africa at the Musina crossing, in particular.
"The numbers being registered are far in excess there of what we saw in the last year, and people are in bad shape. Food and medicines have all been markedly reduced as a result of the combination of the economic implosion in Zimbabwe, which is traced to the political repression in the country."
The procedural obstacles that expatriates find on the other side of the border often result in deportations – more than 250 000 people are sent back annually.
HRW said that many of these deportations of Zimbabweans fleeing political violence, forced evictions and economic destitution are avoidable. It said Pretoria’s asylum policy needlessly subjects applicants to stringent legal interpretations, and that considering the victims for temporary status rather than full-fledged political sanctuary would free up the system to
help rescue those in dire need.
"We are calling upon the South African government, which has already a pretty dysfunctional asylum system in terms of doing individual refugee status determinations, to basically say that this is a situation that calls for a temporary status that would basically put into effect a
non-deportation policy for Zimbabweans and give them work authorisation," Frelick said.
HRW claimed that South Africa absorption system was backlogged because of an inflexible approach to defining refugee status, which it said placed too much weight on Zimbabweans having to justify their flight in terms of political persecution.
Frelick said a more pragmatic approach would help unclog the pipeline and enable the migrants to find help.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a political crisis and efforts by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to push for a government of national unity between President Robert Mugabe and main political rival Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) seem to be hitting a brickwall.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the leader of a breakaway MDC faction – Arthur Mutambara – signed a power-sharing deal last September. The pact ran into serious problems as Tsvangirai and Mugabe haggled over sharing of ministerial portfolios and other key government post.
Efforts to break the impasse on Monday by SADC chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe, Mozambique President Amando Guebeza and talks facilitator Thabo Mbeki failed.
An extraordinary SADC summit will now take place on January 26 in either Botswana or South Africa to tray and break the deadlock between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. – ZimOnline