Archbishop attacks Zimbabwe deportations

LONDON, June 28 (UPI) -- The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he is amazed deportations to Zimbabwe have not been stopped.

Dr. Rowan Williams told BBC Radio Tuesday: "I think it's deeply immoral to send people back there."

The British government is under increasing pressure to suspend removals of Zimbabweans, at a time when the United Nations says 275,000 people have been made homeless in demolitions carried out by Robert Mugabe's regime.

Scores of asylum seekers are on hunger strike in detention centers across Britain to protest the decision to send 116 people back to Zimbabwe where they say they will face torture and persecution.

Williams urged Zimbabwe's neighbors -- particularly South Africa -- to "rally round" and put pressure on the Mugabe regime.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke denied claims Tuesday that a general freeze on deportations had been introduced. He told the BBC that each case would be reviewed individually.

But William said: "You can't simply address it on individual terms. There are some places where if people are sent back the risks are just statistically so unacceptably high," he said.

Meanwhile, the Times of London reports the deportations have been halted until new appeals are examined.