Zimbabwe: Deportations rob vulnerable of remittances

Thousands of Zimbabwean households are feeling the effects of lost remittances from family members forcibly returned from neighbouring South Africa since that country resumed deportations of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in October 2011. Makaita Gwati, 60, from rural Chirumhanzi, about 90km from the provincial capital of Masvingo in southeastern Zimbabwe, relied on the income her son and daughter sent from South Africa to support the rest of the family, until both were deported in November last year. 'I counted on them for money to buy food and other essential items, but now that they are here and they can’t find jobs, I don’t know how we will survive,' Gwati told IRIN.