A 24 year-old Zimbabwean man has been languishing inside an immigration detention centre in Portsmouth for over a year, awaiting deportation.

Tatenda Jera has lived in the UK since 2000 when he fled the country of his birth. He got into trouble with UK authorities in July last year when he was arrested for not paying fines.

'I was picked up by the police in July last year and taken to court where I was sentenced to serve two weeks in jail. I only served one week and it was at that time that immigration officials visited me in jail.' Jera said.

Jera was taken into custody by the UK border agency for violating his visitor's visa. He immediately claimed asylum and his application has been denied three times.

He said he has been denied his quest for freedom for over a year now, while some hardcore criminals are granted bail within days of detention.

'I'm not a criminal. I left Zimbabwe to flee violence and try to make ends meet. Although they treat us nice in detention the fact remains that I'm behind a wall and don't enjoy my freedom. My family has tried to help but nothing is moving on the ground,' he said.

Jaison Matewu, the MDC-UK's organizing secretary, said he would enquire about Jera's predicament. He said the fact that Jera has spent over a year in detention meant he was probably not an active MDC member.

'When one of our members is detained we usually get notification of their arrests almost immediately, but in this case I'm surprised Jera has spent over a year in detention. Even if he's not MDC the fact remains that Jera is Zimbabwean and needs our help,' Matewu said.

By SW radio