Times Of Swaziland: UK GOVT GRANTS ‘GAWUZELA’ 5-YR ASYLUM

UK GOVT GRANTS ‘GAWUZELA’ 5-YR ASYLUM
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Ntombi Mhlongo on 18/02/2024 16:45:00


MBABANE – After having fled the Kingdom of Eswatini over two years ago, former
Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane has been granted a
refugee asylum stay in the United Kingdom (UK) for the next five years.
Refugees have a right to apply for welfare in the UK, in line with nationals in
that country. If one is a refugee, they are able to work in the UK without any
restrictions. The Times SUNDAY has seen a copy of a letter dated February 8,
2024, written by the UK Home Office, detailing that his application for a stay
had been approved. Simelane fled the Kingdom of Eswatini in July 2021, shortly
after news of an arrest warrant against him made rounds. His warrant of arrest
was issued along with those of incarcerated former MPs Mthendeni Dube and
Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza. The two were arrested on July 25, 2021, and charged under
the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008. After fleeing the country, Simelane
stated that he was in the UK in a quest to spread the word about the human
rights violations in Eswatini. He said he was on a global advocacy drive.
addressed followers
On Monday, the former MP, who is the President of the Swaziland Liberation
Movement (SWALIMO) addressed his followers on a late-night show dubbed ‘Family
Meeting’, where he revealed that the Government of Eswatini cancelled the
diplomatic passport that was issued to him. The passport was given to Simelane
as a working tool in his capacity as an MP. During the late-night show, Simelane
told his followers that he was happy that in 2024 he would travel the whole
world speaking about the plight of emaSwati. Following his statement, the Times
SUNDAY engaged him on what exactly he meant by saying he would travel the world.
In his response, he said, what was meant to be his worst moment turned out to be
an hour of great strides.
“I did not intend on making UK my home away from home by then, but upon
discovering that government has taken down my Eswatini passport, due to the
pressure they felt about my global advocacy, I then had to apply for a stay
here, lest I be stateless. I thank Alpheous and the government for the
continuous own-goals they keep scoring. The 18 months of being grounded while
the process was taking its time has been painful, but through it I have scored
the biggest victory I never thought of ever,” Simelane said. When asked how he
ended up being granted the so-called stay in the UK, he stated that a string of
intensive interrogations of his story was launched by the relevant department as
soon as he applied for the stay. This, he said, gave him the greatest platform
to share the Eswatini story in depth backed by massive evidence.
application passed
He then commended the mainstream media and online platforms for the fact that
his application passed with flying colours. “I got all the support I needed.
The government here declared that it is convinced with my presentations on the
course and all I stand for,” Simelane. Again, this reporter asked him what the
latest developments meant, especially since in the Kingdom of Eswatini he was
regarded as a fugitive of the law. To this he responded by saying: “The
fugitive status only exists in the mind of the Eswatini Government.” He
mentioned that the world was now clear about the true colours of the Eswatini
regime and that emaSwati should never hesitate to apply for a stay anywhere now.
Simelane was also asked what benefits he would enjoy now that he had reportedly
been granted a stay in the UK.
He mentioned that there were massive benefits which included the UK passport.
“The UK ordinary passport travels to 153 countries including world super
powers without the need of a visa while the Eswatini diplomatic passport only
covers 86 countries; I guess none of the super powers included. Therefore
forcing me to take the UK stay propelled the calling to higher dimensions,” he
said. Elaborating, Simelane said now was the time for him to take the route once
taken by the late South African political activist Oliver Tambo. History
dictates that Tambo was one of the heroes of South Africa’s struggle for
freedom from apartheid.
forced to leave
For many years he served as president of the African National Congress (ANC).
Because the South African Government did not like the ANC’s activities, Tambo
was forced to leave the country. For 30 years he continued to oppose apartheid
while living outside of South Africa. “I will now wage the international
pillar of the Eswatini struggle with ease. I appeal to the peace and democracy
loving organisations, institutions and individuals across the world even back
home to be destiny-helpers in this course. “Time is against us as our people
continue to languish in pain as some are with the incarcerated former MPs. We
need to fast-track the process to set our people free. Resources are what will
make it possible for me and others to make our footprint globally,” emphasised
Simelane. Upon further investigation, this publication discovered that Simelane
has been granted refugee status of five years permission to stay in the UK. The
latest developments mean that the UK Government has accepted that Simelane has a
well-founded fear of persecution and, therefore, cannot return to the Kingdom of
Eswatini and has, therefore, been recognissed as a refugee under the 1951
Refugee Convention.
inquiry
A questionnaire was sent to the British High Commission in Eswatini and it
responded by saying: “Such matters are the responsibility of the Home Office
in London and we have not yet received any information related to your inquiry,
so we are unable to respond to specific questions at the moment. However, we
undertake to clarify the position in due course.” By definition, a refugee is
someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution,
war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular
social group. Seeking asylum is not an unlawful act, and as such, international
refugee and human rights law standards protect from penalisation even those who
have entered or remained in the territory of a State, without authorisation,
including penalisation in the form of detention or other restrictions on their
movement. According to research, the Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of
July 28, 1951 is a United Nations (UN) multilateral treaty that defines who a
refugee is and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the
responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
Convention
Research also makes mention of a relation between the 1951 UN Convention on the
Status of Refugees and what is known as the 1967 Protocol. The 1967 Protocol
broadens the applicability of the 1951 Convention in that it removes the
geographical and time limits that were part of the latter. These limits
initially restricted the Convention to persons who became refugees due to events
occurring in Europe before January 1, 1951. Meanwhile, while every refugee is
initially an asylum seeker, not every asylum seeker will ultimately be
recognised as a refugee. This, the UN law says, is because the right to be
recognised as a refugee is determined by law after an asylum seeker has applied
for protection in the country of refuge.
In terms of rights, refugees and asylum seekers have a right not to be removed,
in any manner whatsoever, by their host country to their country of origin, or
any other country, where they are at risk of being seriously harmed.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees
are regarded as being among the most vulnerable people in the world and the 1951
Refugee Convention; supplemented by its 1967 Protocol, helps protect them. They
are the cornerstone of refugee protection and the key legal documents that form
the basis of UNHCR’s work.
In terms of background, Simelane, Dube and Mabuza were charged after
spearheading calls for political reforms from 2021, during a Parliament sitting.
ideology
They spoke of the ideology outside Parliament, where it received support, mainly
from the youth. The three legislators made calls that the premier should be
elected by the people so that he could be accountable to them. It is currently
the prerogative of the head of State to appoint the prime minister (PM), on the
recommendation of the King’s Advisory Council, known as Liqoqo. As the call
for the election of the premier by the people intensified, the youth delivered
petitions to various tinkhundla centres across the country. They mandated their
respective MPs to support the three MPs who were calling for political reforms.
Trouble started when the petition delivery was banned by the then Acting PM,
Themba Masuku, who felt the gatherings at the tinkhundla centres violated
COVID-19 regulations.
Meanwhile, as law enforcers arrested the pair, in then MPs Mabuza and Dube,
while Simelane had a warrant of arrest issued against him; but he did not hand
himself over to the law enforcers. Instead, Simelane left the country and this
later resulted in Parliament invoking Section 98(1) (c) of the Constitution. His
Parliament seat was declared vacant as he was absent from 20 consecutive
sittings. The section invoked by Parliament reads: “The seat of a senator or
of a member of the House shall become vacant where the holder is absent from 20
sittings of the chamber during any meeting of that chamber without the
permission in writing of the presiding officer and is unable to offer a
reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges.” On
another note, it was on July 26, 2021, that Simelane was declared a fugitive
from justice.
hiding
A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person, can be a person who is
either convicted or accused of a crime and hiding from law enforcement in the
State or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid arrest. In the
warrant of arrest issued on July 8, 2021, presented in court, it stated that the
three former MPs allegedly acted jointly to incite people of Eswatini to revolt
against the constitutionally established Government of Eswatini. The Crown
stated in the charge sheet that Simelane was a fugitive from the law. According
to the charge sheet, as a consequence of the alleged incitement by the trio,
there were riots in all the regions of the country. The Crown further brought it
to the attention of the court that these riots caused loss of life, bodily
injury to people and destruction of private and public properties.
Eswatini Govt not aware - Alpheous
MBABANE – Eswatini Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo has said that they
were not aware of the latest developments regarding former Member of Parliament
(MP) Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane’s stay in the United Kingdom.
Nxumalo said if there was a letter confirming that Simelane had been granted
refugee status, it would be duly directed to him as the recipient. The
spokesperson said the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini respected the
sovereignty rights of other countries and, therefore, did not dictate to them
for any course of gesture or action.
diplomatic channels
“We have a long standing, warm and cordial relations with the Government of
the United Kingdom. If there is a need for the Government of Eswatini to be
appraised about any details on this matter, we shall use the normal diplomatic
channels to communicate same to the Government of the United Kingdom,” Nxumalo
said.