Scribd
Upload
78 views

No Going Back To Mugabe: Advanced

Thomas, a failed asylum seeker from Zimbabwe, has endured a difficult journey in Britain. After his final appeal was rejected, he lived in poor conditions, moving between friends' homes and homeless shelters. He was eventually attacked, leaving him injured. Though he qualified for refugee status when the tribunal recognized the danger deportees faced in Zimbabwe, his subsequent claims were denied. After more struggles, including living in an uninhabitable shelter, Thomas's situation improved when he was transferred to a better home and reunited with his sister. He now lives happily with his partner Tanya and her children. However, he remains desperate for work and uncertain about his future should the government begin deporting failed asylum seekers like himself.

Uploaded by

Martín Alonso
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
78 views

No Going Back To Mugabe: Advanced

Thomas, a failed asylum seeker from Zimbabwe, has endured a difficult journey in Britain. After his final appeal was rejected, he lived in poor conditions, moving between friends' homes and homeless shelters. He was eventually attacked, leaving him injured. Though he qualified for refugee status when the tribunal recognized the danger deportees faced in Zimbabwe, his subsequent claims were denied. After more struggles, including living in an uninhabitable shelter, Thomas's situation improved when he was transferred to a better home and reunited with his sister. He now lives happily with his partner Tanya and her children. However, he remains desperate for work and uncertain about his future should the government begin deporting failed asylum seekers like himself.

Uploaded by

Martín Alonso
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

No going back to Mugabe

Level 3 Advanced
1 Pre-Reading 1 Key words
Fill the gaps using these words from the text.
asylum
vouchers

threaten
slum

appeal
prohibited

1. A

funding
deport

is a very poor area in or around a city.

2. If someone says that they will do something very bad to you if you dont do what they say, they
you.
3. If something is not permitted, by law, it is

4. People who are in danger in their own country sometimes move to another country and ask for
, or the right to stay there in safety.
5. Money that is provided by a government or organization to help people is called
6. To

is to formally ask a court to change its decision.

7. When a government forces someone to leave the country, they


8.

them.

are pieces of paper, instead of money, that let people buy what they need.

Pre-reading 2 Guess the facts

Do you think these statements are true or false?


1. The president of Zimbabwe is Robert Mugabe.
2. Political refugees have to ask for permission to stay in Britain.
3. If they dont get it, they can stay in Britain anyway.
4. Iftheyfailtogetpermissionthersttime,theycanaskforanotherhearing.
5. The British attitude to refugees from Zimbabwe has never changed.
Now read the article and see if you were right.

No going back to Mugabe by Alison Benjamin 1

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006


Downloaded from the News Lessons section in www.onestopenglish.com

P
H

IrstmetThomaslastspring,whenIaskedhimtowriteanarticleaboutlivingundergroundinBritain.He
had applied for asylum, afraid for his life in Zimbabwe because Robert Mugabes youth militia, the Green
Bombers, threatened to kill him for leaving their organisation.
Now, at the beginning of the summer, he looks happy and relaxed, living with his new partner, Tanya, in a
village in East Anglia. But it has been a long, hard journey surviving as a persona non grata in Britain. And it
is not over yet.
CA OT
N
B O
FR E D CO
OM OW P
W NL IAB
EB OA L
SIT D E
E ED

No going back to Mugabe


Level 3 Advanced
3

Afterhisnalappealforasylumwasrejectedin2004,ThomaslivedroughinManchester;onfriendsoors
andinadisusedfactorywithotherfailedasylumseekers.Onenight,vewhiteyouthsattackedhimand
lefthimwithbruisedribsandaswolleneye.Buthewouldntgotothepolice.Iwasterriedthattheywould
send me back to Zimbabwe.

Shaken by the attack, he went to Glasgow to stay with friends, but an old illness forced him to go to hospital.
Hewasafraidtogivehisrealname,sohedidntattendhischeckup,wentbacktoManchesterandslept
inthebusstation.ThefollowingdayhecontactedRefugeeActionthecharitythathadhelpedhimwithhis
asylum case. But hostels in Manchester cant take people like Thomas who cant receive state funding, so
they had to send him to a homeless hostel in Liverpool. It was full of drug addicts, says Thomas. There
was a massive room with lots of beds. Five oclock, they gave me dinner, and six oclock you had to be in
bed. I was scared of the other residents. They made racist jokes. I couldnt sleep all night. The next morning
ItooktherstbusbacktoManchester.Hespenthissecondnightinthebusstationbeforeanotherfriend
let him stay.

At this time, the asylum and immigration tribunal judged that failed asylum seekers deported to Zimbabwe
would be in danger. This gave Zimbabweans refugee status, and Thomas reapplied for asylum. But his
claimwasrejected.HiscaseworkeratRefugeeActionappealed,andThomaswasinvitedtoattendan
appeal hearing in London.

Hewontheappeal,andreturnedtoManchesterreadytomoveintoahostelandreceivegovernmentfood
vouchers, instead of having to rely on handouts from friends and charity, but it was another two months
beforeanythingarrived.ThreedaysbeforeChristmas,hewasnallygivenaroominaNationalAsylum
SupportService[Nass]hostel.Butitwasadisgustingplacetolive.Mybedroomoorwascoveredin
water,thekitchenceilingleaked,therewasmouldgrowingeverywhere.Andtherstfoodvouchersdidnt
arrive until Christmas Eve, when the only supermarkets that accepted them were closed. I spent Christmas
Day ill with hunger, he says.

Thenewyear,however,lookedmorepromising:ThomaswastransferredtoabettermaintainedNass
hostel, and then he heard that his sister, who he hadnt seen for three years since escaping from Zimbabwe,
was living in the Midlands. I couldnt believe it, he says. She had left the same night as myself, after the
Green Bombers had beaten me up in front of my family. None of us had heard from her.

HerememberedSoniaasabigwoman.Now43,alsoafailedasylumseeker,shewastiny.Wehatedeach
other when I was growing up, Thomas laughs. But now I just wanted to be with her. She is the only family I
have here.

HehasonebrotherstillinZimbabweandanotherwhodiedlastyear.Anotherbrotherandtwoothersisters
areinSouthAfrica,wherehismothernowlives,too.HerhouseinZimbabwewasdestroyedbyMugabes
socalledslumclearanceprogramme.
Thomas met Tanya through a mutual friend while he was staying with Sonia, and they clicked immediately.
She invited Thomas to move in with her and her four young children. With Tanya at work all day, Thomas be
came a house husband. Its the happiest I have ever been, he beams, clutching Tanyas hand. They plan
to marry, but say they dont want to tie the knot until Thomas has his refugee status. I dont want anyone to
think we are getting married so I can stay, he insists. Shes been there for me, more than anyone else in
my life. She took me in when I had nothing.

Downloaded from the News Lessons section in www.onestopenglish.com

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006

CA OT
N
B O
FR E D CO
OM OW P
W NL IAB
EB OA L
SIT D E
E ED

10

No going back to Mugabe


Level 3 Advanced
11

Thomasisdesperatetondworktosupporthisnewfamily,butasylumseekersareprohibitedfrom
working.Fivemonthson,theHomeOfcehastoldhimnothingabouthiscase.Theuncertaintyismaking
him nervous. Its the not knowing what is going on that is stressful, he says. In April the government
obtained permission to send failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe, and later this legislation was
conrmed,allowingittoforciblyremoveupto7,000people.

12

WhatwillhedoiftheHomeOfcedoesstartdeportingfailedasylumseekerstoZimbabwe?Thomassays:
Its harder now. I have a family here, but Ill have to go underground again. No way am I going back. And
Tanya?Withouthesitation,shereplies:Illgowhereverheis.
Names have been changed. Thomass article, and more on asylum seekers, can be found at
SocietyGuardian.co.uk/asylumseekers

Comprehension check

Put these events in the order in which they happened.


a. Thomas went to Liverpool.
b. HewenttoliveinEastAnglia.
c. Hewasattackedbyveyoungwhitemen.
d. HewasamemberoftheGreenBombersinZimbabwe.

e. HemetTanya.
f. HewenttoliveinManchester.
g. HewenttohisappealinLondon.
h. HewenttoGlasgow.
i. HemethissisterintheMidlands.

4 Vocabulary Development 1 Collocations

2. state

b. status

3. refugee

c. hearing

4. drug

d. husband

5. appeal

e. addicts

6. food

f. funding

7. slum

g. vouchers

8. house

h. seekers

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006


Downloaded from the News Lessons section in www.onestopenglish.com

a. clearance

1. asylum

CA OT
N
B O
FR E D CO
OM OW P
W NL IAB
EB OA L
SIT D E
E ED

Match the nouns on the left with their collocations on the right.

No going back to Mugabe


Level 3 Advanced
5

Vocabulary Development 2 Find the word

Find words or expressions in the text that mean:


1. someone who is not wanted in a particular place:
2. badly hurt, leaving a blue mark on the skin:
3. when part of your body becomes much bigger than usual, it is
4. upset and frightened:
5. a place where homeless people can stay:
6. green, blue or white bacteria growing on food or wet walls:
7. got on well and felt attracted to each other:
8. gives a big smile:
9. get married:

Discussion

HowdoyoufeelaboutThomasssituation?
Whatisyourcountrysimmigrationpolicy?
Doyouthinkcountriesshouldhavelimitstothenumbersandtypesofimmigrantsitaccepts?

Downloaded from the News Lessons section in www.onestopenglish.com

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006

CA OT
N
B O
FR E D CO
OM OW P
W NL IAB
EB OA L
SIT D E
E ED

Whatkindofimmigrationpoliciesdoyouthinkareideal?

You might also like