Pressure mounts on Britain to delay deportation flight to Jamaica

As pressure mounts on the British Government to halt the deportation of scores of Jamaicans, a team which looked into the Windrush scandal, including a former senior immigration judge, has warned against the resumption of mass deportation flights to Jamaica until after its report is published.

 

Up to 50 people are due to be deported on Tuesday in what will be the second immigration removal charter flight to Jamaica since the Windrush scandal in 2018.

 

The BBC on Thursday night reported that it had seen a leaked copy of the Windrush review and it recommended that the government consider ending the deportation of foreign-born offenders who came to the UK as children.

 

Earlier, British officials continued to insist that all those set for removal are criminals, and that no Windrush victims are involved. 

 

The Guardian newspaper has been informed that other recommendations in the review may include a broadening of who counts as a Windrush victim.

 

Asked about that possibility, James Hanratty, a former president of  the Council of Immigration Judges, who sat on the review's advisory panel, drew a distinction between people being deported for criminal offences and people who had suffered due to the Windrush scandal. 

 

Hundreds of persons descended on Downing Street in London Thursday evening to protest the deportation of the 50 Jamaicans. 

 

The area was shut down by activists who say the move marks the return of the government's hostile environment policy, which led to thousands of Commonwealth citizens being wrongly classified as illegal immigrants in the Windrush scandal. 

 

Building cases         

                                                                                                

Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper has been informed that many of  those due to be removed from the UK next week are trying to build cases to prevent their deportation. 

 

However, they have been hampered by a lack of network coverage for their Home Office-issued mobile phones in the area around Heathrow where many are being detained.

 

It is understood that the Home Office admitted there were ongoing problems with the phone network affecting up to 678 detainees, and pledged to provide 1,000 new sim cards by Sunday.

 

Detainees with tickets for the Jamaican charter flight have reportedly been prioritised for new sim cards.

 

Initially, the Home Office told the Guardian that the problem had been resolved last month.