Helping the dispossessed
From Sir Albert Robinson Sir: The Commonwealth troika meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja to assess whether any progress had been made by Zimbabwe ended in failure. Both South Africa and Nigeria refused to accept the Australian proposal that Zimbabwe be suspended from the Commonwealth. Nothing is being done by the Commonwealth, the EU or the UN to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe. All the attention is directed towards Iraq.
Zimbabwe (which has no oil) is left free to pursue Mugabe's policies of throwing white farmers off their land, forcing thousands of black farm workers out of employment, overriding decisions of the supreme court that favour farmers, arresting and detaining a retired high-court judge — effectively destroying the rule of law. In addition, the brutal suppression of opposition candidates in the recent local elections and all the other injustices being perpetrated by Mugabe seemingly will continue unabated.
The British government has repeatedly offered to negotiate a financial settlement of the land question. These offers have been rejected. A practical step could now be taken to assist by using these funds to compensate those who have been forcibly deprived of their land with an amount that will enable the dispossessed to start their lives afresh with capital outside Zimbabwe. A committee to vet and approve applications could be formed in Zimbabwe under the auspices of the Farmers' Union, or any other organisation recommended by the British High Commission.
Albert Robinson
(High Commissioner in London, The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. 1961-63), London W14
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