[Mugabe has a habit of taking in dictators and communists and giving them place in his fake “democracy”. As they say: Birds of a feather… Jan]

Charles Taylor cronies seek Harare asylum

Harare – About 100 Liberians, all kinsmen of ousted former strongman, Charles Taylor, have found a new home in Zimbabwe. They are living lavishly in Harare’s Avenues area and in uptown suburbs stoking speculation that Taylor and his close associates and family members looted Liberia’s wealth before leaving their impoverished country. The Liberians left their motherland after Taylor was forced out of Monrovia to pave way for peace in the West African country. While Taylor was offered sanctuary in neighbouring Nigeria as part of the peace deal, his kinsmen left for various destinations. Most have now found their way to Zimbabwe where they are now seeking political asylum. The international community forced Taylor to step down and settle in exile to facilitate a peace deal between government forces and armed rebels known as the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Taylor was also indicted by a United Nations backed International War Crimes’ Tribunal for atrocities that were perpetrated in Sierra Leone in the early 1990’s by the late Fodday Sankoh’s notorious rebel group which enjoyed support from Monrovia. He remains a free man because conditions of the Liberian peace deal signed to end the civil war do not permit anyone to arrest or harass him as long as he is in Nigeria and has not interfered in the internal politics of the country he ruled since 1991. The peace deal appears to be holding a year since it was signed.

Taylor’s close family members were also allowed free passage from Liberia as part of the deal. The lavish lifestyles of Taylor’s kinsmen in Harare have raised eyebrows. Several of them have suddenly started flourishing business enterprises around Harare and are often seen driving posh vehicles even before many of them have been granted refugees’ status by authorities. Many have not yet appeared before the refugees’ vetting committee, which comprises officials from the security organs, social welfare department and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). “What surprises me is that these Liberians can afford to buy posh cars even though they have not yet been given refugees’ status,” said one refugee close to one of Taylor’s relatives seeking asylum in Zimbabwe. “They are staying in expensive flats and living large.” The Liberians reportedly refused to stay at the Waterfalls Transit Centre where asylum seekers awaiting refugees’ status normally stay preferring to stay on their own in upmarket places around the Avenues area. Asylum seekers normally prefer to stay at the transit centre where they are given basics such as accommodation, food, medical help, clothing, blankets and security.

Officials at the Harare offices of the UNHCR said they did not wish anybody to write about the presence of Taylor’s kinsmen in Zimbabwe as this could endanger them Isaac Mukaro, the Zimbabwean government commissioner for refugees in Harare, was said to be on leave and could not be reached for comment. However, a senior official from his office confirmed the presence of the Liberians saying: “Some of them have appeared before the vetting committee but the majority have not. Those who have appeared before the committee have been given refuge status.” The official added: “Very few asylum seekers, including from other countries, have been denied status.” He declined to give figures of those who have been granted status and those turned down. “We do not give away these figures just like that, he said. Zimbabwe is also home to former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled Addis Ababa as rebels led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi closed in on Addis Abbaba in 1991. Mengistu and his family are living luxuriously in Harare’s upmarket Gunhill area at the expense of Zimbabwean taxpayers.

From Zim Online (SA), 22 February
Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com