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Zimbabwe: Elections

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement made in another place. Before I comment on the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, perhaps I may say that the noble Lord, Lord Malloch-Brown, has gone to the limits of his endurance and capacity in trying to find some answer to Zimbabwe’s problems. When I speak about the limits of his capacity, I have to say that that is very great indeed. I do not believe that any single individual could have done more. Having said that, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Howell, that there is a case for declaring loudly and clearly the election of Mr Mugabe when it happens, which will be soon—in the next few days—to be unlawful and to consider withdrawing our recognition of Zimbabwe in the light of that illegal position. We could and should take further the issue of freezing the bank accounts of families and relatives of the regime and of making it clear that we will not help them in obtaining educational positions for their children in the universities of the western world. It is not unusual—I say this in my capacity as a professor emerita—to find the sons and daughters of some very disagreeable international figures benefiting from their parents’ position in order to obtain what one might call plum situations in the best-known universities of the world. The universities have a certain responsibility in that regard. I have two other points. First, we might consider whether there is room for a Commonwealth meeting with SADC. It is striking that, of those African countries which have clearly spoken out about the dreadful situation in Zimbabwe—such as Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana—all but Angola are members of the Commonwealth, which has not had the kind of problem that the UN has had with Russia, China, and South Africa defying attempts to debate the situation. South Africa would undoubtedly be isolated in the Commonwealth, but that might currently be no bad thing. Secondly, it is easy for us to be eloquent without always following actions we might take. I plead once more for the Minister and the Leader of the House to consider whether we should not look again at the absolute ban on Zimbabwean refugees being allowed to work in this country other than in the most exceptional situations. We now know that they cannot be sent back for some time to come; I wish that I could say that it will be next week but, as realists, we recognise that it will be at least several, perhaps many, months before Zimbabwean refugees in this country can be safely returned to a country that will otherwise undoubtedly torture and kill them if they are. In those circumstances, we cannot continue to refuse to allow Zimbabwean refugees to find some way to sustain their livelihoods and families. In the light of the Prime Minister’s statement, I ask that the refugee situation be considered case by case and that such people, many of whom have been persecuted and tortured, should be allowed to work in this country and to return to their own in some better future to give the benefit of their education and experience in this country to their long-suffering people.