Competing Meanings of the Diaspora: The Case of Zimbabweans in Britain

Abstract

The diaspora literature has tended to narrow itself to the marking out and placing of boundaries at the conceptual level. While still contributing to the elaboration of the concept of diaspora, this article seeks to answer two questions. What meanings do Zimbabweans in Britain give to their diasporic condition and experience? How do such meanings influence and shape attitudes towards return to the homeland or feelings of belonging to the hostland? The article is based on multi-sited ethnography, comprising 33 in-depth interviews and participant observation in four research sites, and draws upon concepts of diaspora and transnationalism as theoretical frameworks. It examines the process by which Zimbabweans in Britain negotiate boundaries, assert meanings, interpret their own pasts, and define themselves in relation to others in the hostland. The findings suggest that, whereas the concept of diaspora typically emphasises group cohesion, Zimbabweans in Britain describe their experience in complex ways. Some depict the diaspora as reverse colonisation; some see it in terms of Babylon and Egypt metaphors; and others talk of the diaspora as wenela, an acronym referring to a labour recruitment system.

Keywords:

• Zimbabweans In Britain
• Diaspora
• Reverse Colonisation
• Idea of Return
• Remittances

Notes

1. Through the Asylum and Immigration Act of 1999, the UK government introduced its dispersal policy, designed to reduce the pressure on accommodation and resources in London and the surrounding areas.

2. All names in this study have been changed to protect respondents’ identities.

3. On 16 November 2004, the UK government lifted a moratorium preventing the deportation of failed asylum-seekers from Zimbabwe. The decision was challenged in the High Court and the judge ordered the AA case (unnamed individuals) to be brought to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, to determine whether ‘refused’ asylum-seekers from Zimbabwe automatically faced persecution if returned there. In October 2005, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) blocked the enforced removal of failed asylum-seekers to Zimbabwe citing security reasons. However, the AIT decision was overturned on appeal in October 2006, giving the government power to resume deportations. The AA case was discontinued in 2008 and replaced by the HS case (the initials of the asylum claimant), which acted as the new country guidance case for Zimbabwe. Yet, in another case known as the RN case, the AIT concluded, in November 2008, that ‘Those at risk on return to Zimbabwe on account of imputed political opinion are no longer restricted to those who are perceived to be members or supporters of the MDC but include anyone who is unable to demonstrate support for or loyalty to the regime or Zanu-PF’. The ruling halted the enforced removal of failed asylum-seekers to the country. See http://www.ait.gov.uk/Public/DeterminationDetails.aspx?Id=2184.

4. See the report about the geographical spread of Zimbabweans in Britain in Pasura (2006).

5. All respondents have a Christian background, thus Babylon and Egypt must be understood in a biblical sense.

6. Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WENELA) was a recruiting agency in South Africa that was given exclusive rights to recruit labour to work in the mines in the Southern African region during the colonial period.

7. For full details, see Home Office Control of Immigration Statistics from 2002 to 2007 available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/.

8. By ‘community transfer agencies’, I refer to unregistered remittance agencies predominantly owned by Zimbabweans in Britain, used for sending money, fuel, groceries, HIV medication and cars to Zimbabwe.

9. In 2004, the Zimbabwean government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, launched the Homelink Private Limited. The company offers the Homelink Housing Development Scheme and Money-Transfer Agencies. For the Homelink Housing Development Scheme, non-resident Zimbabweans in the diaspora are offered loans to buy properties in Zimbabwe, but they can make repayments in foreign currency over a period of five years.

10. See http://www.zimbuyer.com/; http://www.mukuru.com/ for evidence of the emergence of a number of UK-based Zimbabwean online grocery shops.