Zimbabwe By David Davutoğlu

Basic Facts Zimbabwe is one of the 25 poorest countries in the world. It was a British Crown Colony known as the colony of “Rhodesia”. Gained it’s independence after a war on November the 11th 1965 Robert Mugabe has been elected president in every election since the country’s independence. Unlike most other parts of Africa, the wildlife in Zimbabwe does not match the rest of the continent.

Geography Zimbabwe is located in the southern- center of Africa. Bordering several different countries including: Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.

Living Standards Most of the people in the country live in poor quality housing and are often short of food. Also with political violence occouring the countries farmlands owned by white farmers are being ravaged and repossessed by the political party’s thugs. Aside from two international schools in the capital, Zimbabwe's schools are of the worst quality. They are often just a roof on the floor and are only one room. Also with the outbreak of cholera, schools were abandoned and sometimes destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Politics The current President of Zimbabwe is Rpbert Mugabe.There are several different political parties each with one diffrent candidate. How ever the parties are mostly corrupt and get their votes mostly through violence and force. Mugabe’s party the ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front) has been acused of playing the main role of violence in all previous elections.

Recent Elections The situation with the recent has only got worse. With recent political violence people are fleeing the country. Politicians opposing Mugabe face the risks of: kidnapping, torture and possible execution. Zimbabwe is one of the world’s most politically dangerous countries.

Violence There has been a lot of political violence in Zimbabwe. This is mostly due to the elections and it is usually hired thugs and soldiers who enter a town and beat, rape and mutilate the people as a warning of what could happen if their party loses. The effect that this violence has had on the citizens is tremendous. This is causing regular citizens to flee from the country, thus spawning the current refugee crisis. However this has been happening since Zimbabwe’s independance.

Conflict There is great controversy surrounding Robert Mugabe, who is accused of having several diffrent civilians beaten and tortured. When he was charged with these offences Mugabe denied having ever commited any of the crimes against humanity and was never taken to the ICJ (The International Court of Justice). He also stated on Friday the 25th of September that “The West undermines his government”. He clearly sees western countries as an enemy.

The Situation with the Refugees Many refugees have gone from Zimbabwe to England, France and other European countries. Robert Mugabe is being blamed for having give the refugees no other choice after making the country a very dangerous place. The refugees are faced with terrible conditions and are often denied asylum. However they prefer this option than to return to a country where they face serious violence and very high chance of public execution. However this has happened in the past. During an outbreak of cholera and several past elections it was the exact same case.