Patrick Dlamini still seeking asylum after six years

Feb 1 2010 by Anne-Marie Senior, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

‘I’m still praying for asylum after 6 years’

HE FLED persecution and death threats to find a safe place to raise his family.

But widowed dad-of-three Patrick Dlamini is still living in limbo – almost six years after he arrived in Huddersfield.

The former Zimbabwean – known as Patrice – still cannot describe the horrors of 21 years on the run from the dictatorship of President Mugabe.

His only crime was becoming involved with the country’s opposition party – the MDC – after his tribe was wiped out by the cruel political regime.

Now, as he anxiously waits to find out if he and his children can stay in the country they call home, he devotes his days to helping others find asylum in Huddersfield.

He said: “It feels like I’m helping everyone else across the river, but I am being left behind myself.

“Without a decision I am still in limbo. I cannot work and every penny we have I save just to get by. There are no treats for my children, like lollies. They have no holidays or nice things like their friends.

“We get a house to live in and a small amount to live off.

“But I don’t want to be given fish, I want to learn to fish for myself.”

The 43-year-old volunteers for the charity KRAFT – Kirklees Refugees and Friends Together – based at Longroyd Bridge.

He and a team of volunteers run a drop-in centre at St Thomas’ Church Hall for people needing asylum.

From legal advice and housing issues to putting them in touch with other agencies, the centre helps meet all their needs.