Categories: Stories

Zimbabwean who fought for Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan spared from deportation at the last minute

The Zimbabwean who fought for Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan but was due to be deported yesterday was removed from the bus before it left for Heathrow Airport at the last minute.

The Zimbabwean who has been identified as Joram Nechironga went to the United Kingdom in 2001 and served in the British army for five years, including in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nechironga suffered from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and developed a drinking problem. He served two years in prison for drink-driving offences and an assault on a family member.

Reports from Coventry say Nechironga was put on a bus to Heathrow airport last night bound for a mass deportation flight to Zimbabwe but was taken off the bus before it departed following the intervention of  his lawyers and Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana.

Nechironga said he was traumatized by the experience.

“It has traumatised me, I am suffering with PTSD ” he said. “They said they can’t let me go back to Coventry because they say I am high risk and might abscond. The way they are treating me, they are not giving me a chance. I will definitely be killed if I return (to Zimbabwe), there are no two ways about it…..

“I dedicated my life to fight for this country (Britain), which I love so much. I made a mistake yes, I am suffering from PTSD…why won’t they give me a chance? I feel like crying. It goes into my head. That PTSD that I suffered, every day I can’t sleep, the moment I want to sleep, I get flashbacks.”

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This post was last modified on March 3, 2022 7:47 pm

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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