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Elderly British citizens in Zimbabwe return back to Britain

by Suranee | June 6, 2009 at 07:48 am

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With inflation on the rise, elderly British citizens in Zimbabwe are finding it hard to make ends meet resulting in hundreds of them being flown back to Britain as they reluctantly accept the British government’s offer of a free ticket “home” and a social safety net once they get there.

HARARE — Hundreds of Zimbabwe’s elderly whites are being flown back to Britain by the same state that shipped them out to what was then Rhodesia in the 1950s.

For more than 50 years they enjoyed the good life and raised families as part of the colonial-era system of white minority rule. They survived the bitter and bloody war to end the Rhodesian regime. After the country moved to majority rule and became Zimbabwe in 1980, they stayed on in the country that had become their home.

Now, with their children gone and their pensions made worthless by stratospheric inflation, many have reluctantly accepted the British government’s offer of a free ticket “home” and a social safety net once they get there.

Mr. John Healey said since access to food and medical care was difficult in Zimbabwe, the government is offerring help to older and vulnerable British people who are unable to support themselves in Zimbabwe and want to resettle in the U.K.

"The situation in Zimbabwe continues to make it hard to access food and medical care.
That's why we are offering help to older and vulnerable British people who are unable to support themselves in Zimbabwe and want to resettle in the U.K.," said British cabinet minister John Healey when the repatriation program was announced in February.