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(TALKZIMBABWE) Pensioners from Zimbabwe face poverty in Britain

Pensioners from Zimbabwe face poverty in Britain
Nancy Pasipanodya
Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:52:00 +0000

OVER 60 white pensioners with British passports who were repatriated from Zimbabwe face destitution in Britain as the country is failing to provide them with adequate food and shelter.

A survey carried out by the Zimbabwe Guardian reveals that many of the repatriated pensioners are still in temporary accomodation awaiting to be allocated housing. Many of them still do not get a decent meal and are yet to receive the promised benefits.

Pensioner poverty rates in the UK are already at unacceptably high levels and this latest news adds to the gloom.

Many of the pensioners, who are over 60 years of age, are unlikely to find decent accommodation in time for winter, which is only a few months away.

In June this year, Britain started repatriating pensioners with British passports and living in Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwean government said the move by Britain was racist and was an admission that the illegal sanctions imposed by that country were not targetted to top leadership only; but were indiscriminate and targetted every Zimbabwean.

A pensioner who wanted to be identified only as Mark told the Zimbabwean Guardian that since he entered the UK he has only heard from the authorities twice.

"We have been provided with this shelter and food here in Leeds and nothing else.

"We are still to be properly registered with social services. No one seems to know or care where we are and about our welfare," said Mark who said he was 69 years old.

"We do not even know where to go to claim the money that we have been promised."

Mark left Zimbabwe at the end of June. He said he was promised decent accomodation and a weekly allowance. He still hasn't received any payment and still has nowhere decent to live.

British pensioners are among the poorest in the European Union, with nearly one-third of the elderly living in poverty, according to new European Commission statistics.

One in five pensioners in the UK are classed as living in relative poverty.

The figures, published by Eurostat, compared relative poverty in the 27 member states and showed 30% of UK over-65s were at risk of poverty in 2007, the same proportion as in Lithuania, and put Britain fourth in the poverty league of nations.

Recent research showed one in five people aged 60 and older are skipping meals to save money on food, while two-fifths are struggling to afford essential items. Seven in 10 over-65s are resorting to thrifty skills from the war and post-war years to help them through the recession.

Labels: PENSIONERS, UK

posted by MrK @ 3:37 PM