Dear Supporter
After 5 months of complaining to both the Home Office directly and the Information Commissioners, the Home Office have finally sent a response of sorts, largely avoiding answering my FOI questions.
I'm sharing below the update I posted this week on my sister petition on deportations so apologies if you've signed both petitions and have already read it;
In April I sent a Freedom of Information Request to the Home Office asking them how many people had been deported to Caribbean countries in the past ten years and how many out of country appeals there had been.
Five months later after they found excuses and avoided my questions leading to me complaining and escalating my complaint with the Information Commissioners who instructed the Home Office to reply they sent a response;
In relation to Q1, Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act exempts the Home Office from having to provide you with this information, on the grounds that it is already in the public domain.
Returns are not recorded by country of birth; however, information on the number of removals and deportations by nationality, gender, age, sex and destination country is published in our quarterly Immigration Statistics release at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending
march-2018/how-many-people-are-detained-or-returned
For Q2 of your request, we have established that data is not held on out of country appeals.
In May I sent another Freedom of Information request to the Home Office as it was clear that they were going to avoid answering my first request a month earlier, this time asking more detailed questions. Again their failure to answer within the deadline led to me complaining and escalating my complaint with the Information Commissioners who instructed the Home Office to reply. It has taken them 4 months to do so.
They have largely ducked the questions I asked but confirmed that there were mass deportations by charter flight in the period April to May as follows: 1 to Nigeria, 2 to Pakistan, 1 to Ghana and 1 planned mass deportation to Jamaica was cancelled.
In answer to this question:
How many deportations or removals by air took place to Commonwealth countries
in a) April, b) May 2018, c) list each country & the number to each
They gave the following excuse for not providing the answer:
I can confirm that the Home Office holds the information that you have requested. However, after careful consideration we have decided that the information is exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act. This provides that information can be withheld if it is intended for future publication. These statistics will be released on 23 August 2018. Section 22 of the Act is a qualified exemption and requires consideration of the public interest test. Arguments for and against disclosure in terms of the public interest with the reasons for our conclusion, are set out below.Public interest test in relation to Section 22
Some of the exemptions in the FOI Act, referred to as ‘qualified exemptions’, are subject to a public interest test (PIT). This test is used to balance the public interest in disclosure against the public interest in maintaining the exemption. We must carry out a PIT where we are considering using any of the qualified exemptions in response to
a request for information. The ‘public interest’ is not necessarily the same as what interests the public. In carrying out a PIT we consider the greater good or benefit to the community as a whole if the information is released or not. Transparency and the ‘right to know’ must
be balanced against the need to enable effective government and to serve the best interests of the public.
Conclusion
We conclude that the balance of the public interest lies in maintaining the exemption
and withholding the information, because it is in the overall public interest that the Home Office is able to plan its publication of information in a managed and cost-effective way.
In answer to the following questions:
Are there any charter flight mass deportations or removals or deportations on
Commercial flights to Commonwealth countries planned in?
a) June 2018, July 2018, August 2018, September 2018, October 2018, November 2018
or December 2018.
b) What is the reason for each of these planned deportations or removals?
c) What countries are they to?
The Home Office replied:
It has been decided that the information you have requested is exempt from
disclosure under section 31(1) (e) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Their overall conclusion stated was:
Conclusion
We conclude that the balance of the public interest lies in maintaining the exemption and withholding the information, because it is in the overall public interest that the Home Office is able to plan its publication of information in a managed and cost-effective way.
It is very disappointing that they are withholding information still and also of great concern that there is no record kept of the number of out of country appeals and outcomes. Out of country appeals are very hard and take a long time and we know that there are still people stranded in Caribbean countries for years, even decades, despite the 'assurances' given by government in recent months.
Last month I was part of a European trade union delegation to Sicily where we agreed a statement and a trade union network to welcome migrants and stand up to racism: https://www.pcs.org.uk/news/pcs-blogs/zita-holbourne/european-unions-agree-to-welcome-migrants-to-europe
In my speech at the conference we held there I called for solidarity with Italian MEP Cecile Kyenge who has been subjected to racist and misogynistic abuse, likened to an orangutan, told she should 'do politics in her own country' and there have been calls for her to be raped. I would be grateful if you would sign the petition below which I am supporting.
I am grateful for your support. Please can you continue to share this petition. It's disappointing that British Airways still wish to help the Home Office deport people, destroying lives and tearing families apart.
The Windrush scandal has led to Sarah O'Connor dying due to the stress and strain of the threat of deportation: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/19/windrush-victim-campaigner-sarah-oconnor-dies-aged-57
Rest in Peace Sarah.
Regards and thanks
Zita