Sixty university students have been jailed after clashes with
Zimbabwean riot police during rolling demonstrations that started last
week. They demanded the expulsion from Hong Kong of 20-year-old Bona
Mugabe. The students were also protesting against mounting economic
hardship and what they called the "dollarisation of education".
Police fired tear gas during the protests, which started earlier this
month, to prevent students from leaving their campus, but hundreds have
breached the blockade and marched through downtown Harare.
"Why is Bona not attending Lupane University or Midlands State
[University]?" asked Clever Bere, president of the Zimbabwe National
Students’ Union (Zinasu). "Zinasu is urging the University of Hong Kong
to deport Bona Mugabe, who is pursuing her studies there. She must come
back home and face the same conditions that fellow Zimbabweans are
facing in these difficult times. We are incensed by the high level of
police brutality," the student spokesperson said.
Campus protests began in early February when rioting students
reportedly stoned cars in a rampage triggered by a hike in tuition to
US$1 200 for state university students doing arts, humanities and
social sciences, US$1 400 for those in science and technology faculties
and US$1 800 for those studying medicine and veterinary science.
Previously tuition was paid for in Zimbabwe dollars.
Student leaders said their classmates were further angered by
subsequent demands for an extra US$400 in exam fees, supposed to be
paid by 12pm on February 11.
The news of Mugabe’s daughter’s enrolment at the University of Hong
Kong broke at the same time as the rise in student fees was announced.
Students immediately mounted an online media campaign to pressure the
Hong Kong administration to deport the president’s daughter to
Zimbabwe. Bona Mugabe, whose father and close associates are banned
from entering the United States and the European Union, began studying
in Hong Kong under an assumed name last autumn.
Mugabe and his associates turned to Asian universities for their
children’s education following Australia’s decision in 2007 to deport
eight youngsters whose fathers were accused of propping up the Mugabe
government.
The London website ZimDaily, run by expat journalists from banned
Zimbabwean newspapers, has been coordinating the campaign to have the
president’s daughter deported.
But Beijing is a different kettle of fish. The Chinese government
enjoys warm diplomatic ties with the Mugabe administration and is
likely to reject calls to send his daughter home, although some rights
activists have questioned whether she should be allowed to stay.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said: "A child who
has not done anything wrong should not be asked to take the burden of
the wrongs of their parents. [But] if the money she is spending was
siphoned off ordinary people, there is a problem. Just like other
members of the international community, Hong Kong should do its part in
imposing sanctions." The Hong Kong government said it had no comment.