The plane which arrived in Jamaica with 13 deportees on Wednesday
Thirteen Jamaicans arrived in Jamaica Wednesday morning after being deported from the UK amid strong campaigns and legal attempts to stop the controversial flight.
The group landed at Norman Manley International Airport shortly after 7:30 a.m.
The Jamaicans, all males, are being housed at the Olympia Crown Hotel on Molynes Road in Kingston.
Renee Steele, Senior Policy Director for Crime Prevention and Community Safety in the National Security Ministry, told Radio Jamaica News that the men will remain at the facility for the next two days.
She said health and security screening are underway.
Minimal risk to public
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton said the deportees will pose minimal health risk to the public.
He said they are being tested for COVID-19 and will remain in quarantine for 14 days.
Additionally, Dr. Tufton said the deportees will be strictly monitored while in quarantine.
Last minute reprieve
At least 10 Jamaicans were granted last minute reprieve after the UK Home Office acknowledged they may be victims of modern slavery.
They were taken off the flight hours before it was due to leave for Jamaica following legal intervention.
According to Britain's Independent newspaper, in one case, a 30-year-old man who went to the UK at age 11, had his deportation cancelled Tuesday evening after the Home Office was forced to acknowledge that he had indicators of having been trafficked by gangs in his twenties.
He was to be deported despite the department reportedly striking a deal with Jamaica not to put those who arrived in the UK under the age of 12 on the controversial flight.
Some of the Jamaicans were also taken off the flight on the basis of having children in the UK.
One of them, a father-of-four, whose children are aged 24, 22, 17 and 14, was detained on the basis that he was convicted of possession of an air gun in 2017, for which he spent a year and a half in jail.
He had been convicted of two driving offences prior to that, for which he served several months each time.
Responding to the last-minute U-turns, Labour MP Bell Riberio Addy said the fact that activists and lawyers are able to overturn decisions in a single appeal betrays the lack of due process behind the flight.
Ms Addy again called for the UK Government to halt all such flights, and comply with the Equality and Human Rights Commission recommendation to end the hostile environment.
No more flights
UK Diaspora group, Advocacy Matters 4 You, has written to Prime Minister Andrew Holness requesting that Wednesday's flight be the last that Jamaica accepts from the UK.
In the letter dated Wednesday, December 2, member of the group, Angella Jamieson, said last minute challenges meant 37 of 50 Jamaicans were allowed to remain in the UK.
Ms Jameison said the Jamaican Government can no longer continue to accept the practice if more than 50 per cent of those scheduled to be deported were able to challenge their removal.
She is urging the Government to commit to ensuring the well-being of those deported on Wednesday.
All feeds
