UK could take 20,000 Zimbabweans

War veterans: Occupying white-owned farms in Zimbabwe

Up to 20,000 Zimbabweans could settle in the UK should they decide to flee the country amid a worsening political situation, the government has revealed.

Confirming the figures, Foreign Officer minister Peter Hain warned Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe that the UK would "not fall into a trap" of being blamed for the escalating violence over land reform in the former British colony.

Mr Hain's warning to MPs came as he reaffirmed that the UK stood ready to fund land redistribution - but it would not do so until Mr Mugabe's government ended illegal invasions of farms owned by Zimbabwe's white farmers.

A second white farmer has been confirmed dead on the subdued 20th anniversary of the country's independence from the UK.

A total of eight opposition members are already dead amid fears of political assassination as the nation slides towards chaos.

Region threatened

Speaking to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Mr Hain said that Zimbabwe's increasing violence threatened the stability of the entire region and that the priority was that "free and fair" elections should go ahead.

Mr Mugabe has so far refused to order an end to invasions of white Zimbabwean-owned farms by war veterans who support the land-grab campaign.

"President Mugabe has sought to present the UK as the enemy," said Mr Hain.

"We are a long-standing partner and we should not be allowed to be presented in this way. We will not fall into that trap."

The minister said that neighbouring Malawi had expressed fears that with "millions" of its citizens working as farm labourers in Zimbabwe it would be destabilised by the violence. South African ministers had also privately expressed concerns to the UK, he added.

"We are the friends of the Zimbabwe people," he said. "Every Zimbabwean is concerned about the direction of the current policy.

"But the key objective is the importance of the coming elections. I don't think that it can be resolved without these being conducted in a free and fair fashion and the outcome respected."

British citizenship

Mr Hain said that 14,500 Zimbabweans have the right to settle in the UK and up to 5,500 more may also qualify.

But he added: "These are people who want to stay in Zimbabwe. It is their country and Britain is not their country.

"It is in the interests of these people to stay in the country and it is in the interests of Zimbabwe to have their skills."

While refusing to say that Mr Mugabe was backing "ethnic cleansing", Mr Hain said that white farmers had been the victims of racist attacks no different to those used against black Zimbabweans during the pre-independence regime of Ian Smith.

He urged African nations to find an "African solution" and the international community had to avoid "knee jerk gestures" in favour of "measured messages".

Describing the current government policy as "incomprehensible", Mr Hain said that the government would resurrect a policy to fund much-needed land redistribution if Zimbabwe pledged to deal with rural poverty.

"If there is a change in policy then we will have negotiations (over funding)," he told the MPs.

"It is not on offer while the government pursues its current policy."