By Olesya Dmitracova
London - The British government won the right on Wednesday to deport thousands of failed Zimbabwean asylum-seekers in the final round of a long-running legal saga.
The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) ruled Zimbabwean asylum seekers turned away from Britain would not automatically face a risk of persecution or maltreatment on return to their homeland.
The government initially suspended deportations to Zimbabwe in January 2002 because of the rising political violence there, but resumed them in late 2004 despite protests by rights groups that the situation had not improved.
'There's no difference between the Zimbabwean regime and this regime' It suspended them again last year following appeals against its policy.
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Thousands of Zimbabweans have fled to Britain in search of jobs or citing political persecution.
Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world and the World Bank says it has the fastest shrinking economy outside a war zone after eight years of recession.
Rights groups criticise Zimbabwe's government for crackdowns on the opposition and a campaign last year to rid the capital Harare of street vendors, which the United Nations estimated displaced 700 000 people.
"I feel so terrible because at the end of the day we were suffering," Zimbabwean refugee Patricia Mukandara told Reuters after Wednesday's ruling, adding she had been detained in Britain. "And what do we get?"
Mafungasei Maikokera, who was detained for seven months after arriving in Britain in 2002, said: "We were expecting something better. Look at the way we've been treated. There's no difference between the Zimbabwean regime and this regime."
Zimbabwean protesters stood outside the court chanting and waving banners that read: "Sent to Zimbabwe - sent to death" and "Fleeing (Zimbabwean President) Mugabe is not a crime".
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