Aid to the Church in Need: Church expects Zimbabwean exodus

Church expects Zimbabwean exodus

Posted by Press Release on 15/4/2008, 2:39 pm
Message modified by board administrator 7/8/2008, 1:35 pm

ACN News: Tuesday, 15th April 2008 – ZIMBABWE

Church expects Zimbabwean exodus
By John Newton

THE Catholic Church in South Africa is bracing itself for a possible refugee crisis, as neighbouring Zimbabwe threatens to erupt into fierce violence in the midst of political uncertainty.
South African Catholic charities, including the Refugee Office of the Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Relief Services, already have plans in place to cope – having met regularly in the months running up to the elections to consider how to respond to increased numbers of refugees.
An estimated 4,000 Zimbabweans have been crossing into South Africa each day over the past few months to look for food and work, because of the current economic crisis – inflation is more than 100,000 percent.
Now there are fears that many more will flee for their safety.
With tensions rising in Zimbabwe, Church leaders have appealed for peace and restraint.
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need was told by one priest that “the situation in the country is tense but not dangerous yet at all. We are all praying”
However, Fr. Chris Townsend, the Information Officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), told ACN: “the latest news is that the situation is deteriorating rapidly”.
Zimbabweans fleeing for South Africa face an uncertain future.
Many refugees risk a perilous night-time crossing of the crocodile-infested Limpopo River to reach South Africa. Some do not survive, either being swept away by the strong currents or eaten by crocodiles.
Frequently unable to obtain official asylum status in South Africa, refugees face police harassment and bitter resentment from local people. Last month, a Zimbabwean man living in a slum outside Pretoria was burnt to death by a mob.
Earlier this week, refugees in South Africa appealed to the international community to deploy peacekeeping forces in Zimbabwe amid fears that Robert Mugabe is set to retaliate against areas that voted against him.
Zimbabwe’s Defence Force chief, General Constantine Chiwenga, has already said he is determined to preserve Robert Mugabe’s presidency at all costs, even if it means a coup.
Chiwenga was one of the commanders of the notorious Fifth Brigade, which was responsible for the killing of civilians in the early 1980s.
Militant supporters of Mugabe have already forced up to a dozen farmers off their land, fuelling speculation that the country is heading to melting point.
The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has alleged that “Zimbabwe is now run by a military government. Constitutional rule has been abandoned. The electoral process has been aborted”.
Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, President of the SACBC, called on Africa’s leaders to diffuse tensions “by mandating a mediator of sufficient international repute, such as Kofi Annan, to ensure a solution that is acceptable to all Zimbabweans”.
ACN is continuing to provide aid for Zimbabwe, including a $30,000 emergency food programme for people threatened with starvation.
More than 500 children – many of them orphans – are receiving food and medical support via a programme run by Sisters in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

To help this cause please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org