CAMPAIGNERS gathered in the region yesterday to protest at a Government policy change that will see failed asylum seekers returned to the African state of Zimbabwe.

Asylum seekers who have fled the hard-line regime of President Robert Mugabe joined local activists for the demonstration, outside the parish church in Stockton High Street yesterday afternoon.

The protestors carried placards and handed out leaflets with details of the Government's policy, which was announced by the Home Office last November.

Zimbabwean Panganai Svotwa, who has lived in the North-East since he fled his homeland four years ago, said he was aware the Government was trying to control the number of asylum seekers.

But the 34-year-old said: "The problem is that Zimbabwe is not a safe country. The UK Government has declared in the past that Mugabe is a murderer and nothing has changed - so why are they trying to send people back?

"People from my community are very afraid of going back. They are even scared to protest, because at some demonstrations recently police have been approaching them and asking them for their identification to find out what their asylum status is."

Kath Sainsbury, of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, said: "How can Tony Blair stand up and condemn Robert Mugabe as a tyrant and yet his government claims it is safe to send people back into this man's hands?"

The Home Office said the "firm and fair" asylum system did not reflect any change in the UK's opposition to rights abuses in Zimbabwe.