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Blessings Chidakwa
Herald Reporter
The second batch of seven Zimbabwean deportees from the United Kingdom have reunited with their families and relatives after completing a mandatory 10-day quarantine at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM).

ZIPAM acting director general Dr Edgar Makande yesterday said the Government took care of the deportees and helped integrate them back into communities.

“Yes, the seven have all re-integrated with their families and there were no complaints from them while staying here,” he said.

The latest group enjoyed good reception just like the first batch of 14 returnees who were also camped at Zipam recently.

The Government lived up to its promises, to take care of the deportees while in quarantine and help them integrate back into their communities, being offered the same opportunities as everyone else.

They were offered free meals, while also enjoying basics like free wi-fi connectivity and television during their stay at Zipam.

While residents returning to Zimbabwe voluntarily are required to undergo mandatory quarantine, they have to do so at their own expense.

Those who test positive to Covid-19 will be expected to isolate at a centre of their choice.

The group touched down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on August 26 on a Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Most of them shied away from cameras as they disembarked at the airport tarmac before completing immigration formalities.

The British government deports foreign nationals, including Zimbabweans, who would have been released from detention after serving jail terms for various offences.

Most among both the first and second batch of returnees arrived in England between 1999 and 2007 and were being deported since they had been convicted of serious offences.

These do not count against them on their return as the offences were not committed in Zimbabwe.