Zimbabweans Deported from U.S. Arrive Home

(MENAFN) A group of Zimbabwean nationals arrived at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare on a chartered flight from the United States after being deported by Washington. The deportees, who disembarked with nothing but the clothes on their backs, appeared visibly frustrated at the reality of returning home involuntarily after spending years abroad. The same flight had also dropped off deportees from Ghana and Zambia, with the final leg of the journey set to bring Mozambicans back from the US.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) captured the group's arrival and interviewed some of the deported men. According to the ZBC, these individuals had served prison sentences in the US for various crimes before being deemed "undesirable" and ordered to leave the country.

Tendai Moyosvi, a trained chef who was among those deported, shared his plans to reintegrate into Zimbabwean society by starting a business after spending a decade behind bars. Other deportees expressed hopes of pursuing agricultural work upon their return.

Ministry of Social Welfare officials were present at the airport, attempting to connect the returnees with their relatives. However, one man, identified only as Mabugu, shared his struggle to reconnect with family. Having left Zimbabwe at the age of nine, Mabugu, now 30, explained he could no longer speak his native language, Shona.

“I cannot speak Shona anymore, I don’t understand it. I forgot it. I was born here, in Masvingo. I grew up in the United States, in Pennsylvania,” Mabugu told ZBC.

This marks another chapter in the ongoing deportation saga for Zimbabweans from the US. Over recent years, US immigration authorities have confirmed that hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals were targeted for removal due to immigration violations or criminal convictions. In 2023, Zimbabwe’s government acknowledged the receipt of deportees from both the US and the UK, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration asserting that it “respects other countries’ immigration laws.”

Reports indicated that more than 500 Zimbabweans were slated for deportation from the US, although returns have been staggered in smaller groups. The latest arrivals underscore the challenges faced by deportees, particularly in terms of reintegration into Zimbabwean society and the provision of support for those like Mabugu who have spent most of their lives abroad.

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