By Patience Maganzo
Harare, Zimbabwe (News Of The South)- “It has been reported that some Western countries have recorded an 80% refusal rate for Zimbabwean immigrants”, according to the Independent.
The UK embassy denies allegations stating that applications are considered on an individual’s merits. Australia, United Kingdom and Canada have since stopped processing visas in Harare, forcing Zimbabweans to seek help at the Pretoria consulate.
Why migration?
There are four main reasons for migration; environmental, economic, cultural and socio-political factors, which can also be push or pull factors. Push factors force an individual to move, for example conflict, inflation and extreme religious activity, especially poor economy and lack of job opportunities. Pull factors on the other hand are attractive factors on a destination country that entice individuals to leave their home. For example, the promise to a better life or standard of living.
For most Zimbabweans, push factors (inflation) come into play when they choose to seek refuge in other nations which then promotes the exploitation of these immigrants. Their desperation leads most into doing odd jobs, regardless of their level of education. This has thus left some working two or three jobs per individual so as to make ends meet.
People work hard in order to support their families left behind in Zimbabwe, and at times you find the entire clan being solely dependent on that one person in the Diaspora.
A diplomatic source told the Independent, “Our schools might want Zimbabwean students, and our institutions might want Zimbabwean workers, but this economy is not favourable for their applications. The currency exchange rate and the restrictions in sending money outside the country have negatively affected the applicants.”
The seemingly deteriorating economic situation has left people suffering to even manage providing as they have been working from hand to mouth. With this situation, it makes Zimbabweans aspire to leave the country. By the end of the day, there are more Zimbabwean immigration applicants when compared to other countries, hence we face scrutiny when applying. Migrant population according to ec.europa.eu was 22.3 million non EU citizens living in the EU on 1 January 2018.
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