I find the cautionary analysis of the first article to be fair from the Zimbabwe government's point of view. Not that it is the truth or the whole story.

I find your version of what is taking place in London to be lacking. For example: If people are moving to London as refugees, it is very likely they will have to claim the government or some group is persecuting them. This may, or may not be true. There is a famous case of some Indians in Trinidad who were seeking asylum in Canada. They claimed Africans in Trinidad were raping Indian women. They lied, the Canadian government knew that, and sent them packing. This remains a major source of embarrassment for Indians here. They were making the claim simply to get to stay in Canada.

Another example: When Cubans seek asylum in the US, they are aware it is beneficial to their case to claim Castro is persecuting them. This may or may not be true. The anti-Castro lobby and the US government will use those claims in their anti-Castro propaganda. These people will usually be quite willing to work with anti-Castro groups, simply because through that lobby they feel they can get jobs and possibly stay in the US.

It is a stretch to try to make us believe that it is different with Zimbabweans; they would refuse to support the propaganda in Britain, and refuse to cooperate with the British backed opposition. It is hard to believe they will be seeking asylum, and go against the very things that give them a chance of getting to stay in Britain.

Maybe there are some highly moralistic refugees coming out of Zimbabwe who will not support either side. I don't feel that can be said of the majority. These countries do not accept people who claim they just want to earn a living and send funds to their families back home. Although most people really do not care one way or the other about the politics as they are trying to advance their own economic interest.

This takes me to my main point:

Everyone thinks it is easy to help out in Africa. We usually have a general idea of suffering and the causes, but still we cannot casually trust the stories we get from Africans on the continent. All sides lie, and even victims can have narrow and murderous agendas.

All the foreign 'charitable' organizations do have their political and religious agendas that are served by claiming to 'help' whatever side in the dispute, regardless of the implications. They are in Africa strictly for the sake of money and power. Marketing suffering in Africa is one way they get funds, the CIA is another, and it does not matter if the group they are 'helping' wants to kill others.

We here try to expose and stop the foreign interests from fueling the conflicts. This also includes exposing the agendas of so-called charity groups. But on the ground, the people may not be so broadminded. We can easily get trapped assisting a group of suffering people who in turn oppress others. Helping out is not so simple.

KNOWING the history and the objectives of parties involved is critical before rushing in to help.