Dad-to-be fights deportation to country he left as a child 

A Leicester father-to-be fears deportation despite living in the UK for most of his life. 

Tawanda Bvumbe is currently being held in an immigration centre – where he has now caught Covid-19.

Tawanda, who lost refugee status after serving a five year prison sentence, is expected to be on a deportation charter flight to Zimbabwe by August 25.

The 30-year-old moved to the UK with refugee status at the age of eight. His father had died four years earlier and his mum had fled to the UK due to the country’s political unrest.

He joined his mum several years later after living with his grandmother for some time and spent his schooling years in Leicester, attending Taylor Road Primary School, Rushey Mead Secondary School and college in Kettering.

Tawanda later joined London Metropolitan University to study English Literature and Media.

In 2014, he was arrested and convicted for a crime he said he “was not involved in” under the joint enterprise law – which the supreme court ruled had been “misinterpreted for decades”. He was remanded to prison and unable to return to university.

Unable to complete his studies, later in 2016, Tawanda became caught up in drug dealing which he was convicted for, along with possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison – which he has now completed. His refugee status was also revoked.

He has since sought to turn his life around, working as a songwriter and recording artist and is also now a soon-to-be father.

“I’ve done my time, this [deportation] is just extra punishment for me not being British,” Tawanda told LeicestershireLive.

He does not have any family or connections in Zimbabwe – a country that since moving away from as a child, he would “no longer recognise”.

“I’ve got no one over there – my brothers and sisters, mum and partner are all here,” he said. “I’ve been here for most of my life this doesn’t make any sense.”

While being held in Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near London Heathrow Airport, Tawanda has been working with his solicitor to stop his flight.

His initial appeal was rejected but he said his solicitors have asked for judicial review.

“This is a traumatic experience – my life is days away from changing, I don’t whether I’m coming or going,” he said.

“I don’t have a clue what I will do if I get deported. I can’t imagine there will be many resources for people like me.”

But now a suspected outbreak of Covid-19 at the detention centre is causing further problems.

In the last few days, Tawanda himself has now tested positive for Covid-19 and says many others in the centre are also Covid-positive.

“I tested negative before I got here and I was put in a cell with someone who wasn’t feeling well.

“Most of the people in my wing are now waiting for results.

“Covid has made it more difficult to access simple things now – like a computer so I can sort out my paperwork.

“My life is dependent on this paperwork and I’m being told I have to wait.”

Tawanda joins dozens of Zimbabwean nationals at the detention centre who are set to be deported.

A petition to stop the flight started by Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK, has now gained more than 191,000 signatures.

BARAC UK has been campaigning for years against mass deportation.

An earlier deportation flight to Jamaica left only seven of the 90 person target for it.

Zita Holbourne, co-founder of BARAC UK said: “The low numbers clearly demonstrate that they shouldn’t have been targeted in the first place.”

She added: “Black and Brown people already face discrimination in the criminal justice system in the UK.

“And just by virtue of not being born in the UK, they are getting further punishment.”

The activist said a large number of people who have been targeted for deportation have served non-custodial sentences for minor offences.

Leicester East MP, Claudia Webbe has called on the Government to abandon the deportation of Tawanda, saying the flights are “inherently wrong”.

She said: “The government’s deportation policy means that people face a triple punishment – a prison sentence, their subsequent time in harsh detention centres and then their removal to a country they often have no memory of, face persecution or are at severe risk in.

“This is a cruel and unusual form of punishment that is disproportionately reserved for people from African, African-Caribbean, Asian and other racialised groups.”

She added: “My constituent, a British resident, is a talented artist, with a child on the way, he does not deserve to be deported and does not deserve to be in a detention centre with a known outbreak of Covid-19.

“I want him back in my constituency with his family where he belongs. The situation is urgent, I am fighting daily for the life of my constituent and I have urged the Home Office to review this case as a matter of urgency.”

The Home Office has declined comment on this particular case but according to a factsheet published by the Home Office: “Where the person has claimed family life in the UK, the Immigration Rules state deportation is in the public interest unless the person has a genuine and subsisting relationship with a qualifying partner, or a genuine and subsisting parental relationship with a qualifying child, and the effect of deportation on the partner or child would be unduly harsh.

“In cases where a person has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least four years, they will need to demonstrate very compelling circumstances over and above these factors.

“All legal claims raised are fully considered and decided upon before deportation, first by the Home Office and then, if the individual is not satisfied with the decision and pursues a legal challenge or appeal, by the courts.”

No comment was made regarding the reported Covid-19 outbreak at the detention centre, but the Home Office blog states: “All individuals due to be on this flight will be assessed by a healthcare professional before they leave the Immigration Removal Centre.”

The factsheet says: “For those being deported on our upcoming charter flight to Zimbabwe, the Home Office is funding re-integration support provided by the International Organization for Migration.”

Claudia Webbe MP is the member of Parliament for Leicester East. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/claudiaforLE and twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe