 The Zimbabwe government is destroying 'illegal' housing |
A Zimbabwean opposition official due to be deported from the UK on Saturday says his lawyers have told him he has won a last-minute reprieve. Crispen Kulinji, 32, is one of 116 Zimbabweans - 41 of whom are now on hunger strike - scheduled to be returned to the country from the UK.
He said he would remain on strike as he was "not prepared to face a dictator at home" and would "definitely" be killed.
The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.
Ban lifted
Mr Kulinji, from Harare, is an organising secretary and election co-ordinator for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
He told BBC News of his "relief" at being told his solicitors had been faxed a letter saying his flight from the UK had been cancelled.
He is being held at Campsfield House, in Oxford, where he has been recovering from injuries he claims he sustained in jail in Zimbabwe.
"I went through torture," he said. "They were using electric irons, electric gadgets under my feet, as well as under my tongue.
"Definitely I will be killed if I return to Zimbabwe."
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said those being held in the UK were "not just economic refugees".
"They are real political refugees because of the conditions back home," he said.
In November 2004, the UK government lifted a ban which had prevented Zimbabweans from being deported against their will.
In the first three months of 2005, 95 Zimbabweans were forcibly removed from the UK.
The Home Office said none of those who had been scheduled for removal were assessed to be in danger if sent back to Zimbabwe and they had no legal right to remain in the UK.
"Since returns were resumed to Zimbabwe last November, we have received no substantiated reports of abuse of any person returned to the country," said immigration minister Tony McNulty.
'Not safe'
At a meeting of G8 ministers on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed "profound concern" about Zimbabwe and urged African leaders not to turn a blind eye to the actions of president Robert Mugabe.
 |  We need the ban on deportations brought back again as the situation is much worse now |
Mr Mugabe recently began demolishing illegal houses as part of a campaign to "restore sanity" in urban areas he says are overrun with criminals.
Labour MP Kate Hoey secretly visited Zimbabwe for the BBC's Newsnight programme to report on a demolition operation which the UN says has left about 250,000 people homeless.
"It is just unbelievable that we would think to send some of these people back to a country that's just falling apart," she said.
"They are at a real risk, particularly if they are coming from the UK, as they will automatically be considered to be anti-Mugabe.
"We need the ban on deportations brought back again as the situation is much worse now than it was then."
The Home Office said staff were monitoring the welfare of the hunger-strikers to ensure they received appropriate medical supervision.
A spokesman said strikes were also taking place at the Harmondsworth detention centre at Heathrow; Yarlswood, in Bedfordshire; and Dover.
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