More than 170 MPs and peers back call to halt Jamaica deportation flight amid Windrush warning
2 min read
More than 170 MPs and peers have written to the Prime Minister calling for him to halt a flight deporting 50 people to Jamaica.
The Home Office has claimed that the flight, due to depart on Tuesday, is “specifically for removing foreign criminals”.
But in a letter to Boris Johnson, organised by Labour MP Nadia Whittome, MPs have warned of the “unacceptable risk” of removing anyone with a potential Windrush claim.
Ms Whittome wrote: "The fact is that many of the individuals in question have lived in the UK since they were children and at least 41 British children are now at risk of losing their fathers through this charter flight.
"The Government risks repeating the mistakes of the Windrush scandal unless it cancels this flight and others like it until the Windrush Lessons Learned Review has been published and its recommendations implemented."
The 2018 Windrush scandal came after more than 80 Commonwealth citizens were deported despite having a legal right to remain in the UK.
A review recommended that deportations of foreign-born offenders, particularly those who came to the UK as children, should be reconsidered, according to a leaked draft of the report.
But responding to Ms Whittome in the Commons, Boris Johnson said: "The people of this country will think it right to send back foreign national offenders."
Shadow Immigration Minister Bell Ribeiro-Addy said such mass deportation flights were “the most brutal and inhuman way to remove people from this country”.
She added: “It often lacks due process, has little regard for deportees safety, and even less for their right to a family life.
“Both the Home Office and the Prime Minister do not appear to even have the correct information on those due on the flight.
“We are calling on the Government to halt all charter flight deportations until it publishes its Windrush lessons learned review. After the Windrush scandal, we expect better. But this Government will stop at nothing to maintain its hostile environment.
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