South Africa’s new visa and immigration laws are causing panic among migrants, especially Zimbabweans who fled political and economic crisis after the disputed 2008 elections, AFP reports.

An estimated two-to-three million Zimbabweans live in South Africa. They face the prospect of mass deportations. “We ran away from Zimbabwe. How can we go back there?” one woman said in an AFP interview. More than 250,000 Zimbabweans were given special dispensation to live in South Africa in 2009. If they leave before their visas are renewed they’ll be banned from returning for up to five years, AFP reports.

Immigration expert Gerhon Mosiane with the Forum of Immigration Practitioners of South Africa  is considering legal action against the South African government. “This boils down to human rights, to the right to work, to the the right of spouses to live together,” Mosiane told AFP. The end result: it will affect the South African economy, he said.

Government officials say the new visa rules will boost South Africa’s economy by speeding up the application process. But in what has been characterized as U.S.-style regulations, the new laws amount to banning skilled workers and forcing spouses to return home, critics say.