The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on Wednesday condemned the deportation of a 14-member South African labour delegation that had arrived in the country on a fact-finding mission.
ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo told IRIN the labour movement's supreme decision-making body, the General Council, had noted that the expulsion violated international trade union statutes.
"This now suggest that the workers of Zimbabwe and the general population are quarantined in all aspects of politics and social life," Matombo said.
The Zimbabwean authorities on Tuesday rounded up the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) delegation and drove them to the Beitbridge border post, despite a provisional High Court order allowing them to stay in the country.
COSATU had defied a government warning that their visit would not be welcome. On arrival in Zimbabwe on Monday, the delegation refused to provide guarantees that they would not talk to civil society groups deemed to be anti-government.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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