Dear Supporter 

I am really pleased to update you with the news that the Jamaican  High Commissioner, Seth George Ramocan, has called for a halt to charter flight deportations today  until the Government hs concluded it's investigation into the Windrush scandal.     

This us exactly what we have consistently called for. We believe that there needs to be an Independent Public Inquiry into the Windrush Scandal. 

In the early hours of 6th February, the day the recent flight to Jamaica went I contacted Mr Ramocan and he worked with us to  make representations to Immigration & Enforcement Command with concerns about the welfare of one of those who was to be deported but who was subsequently returned to detention.

I have continued  dialogue with the High Commissioner over the past fortnight to raise concerns about individual cases and about the deportations and suggested a meeting about the issues with a wider group.  I am aware that he has engaged with other campaigners also and it is good news that he  hosted a meeting today when he met with some of the families of those impacted which included over 40 relatives of people actually deported or held in detention.

As reported in today's Guardian newspaper;

"Listening to stories he described as “heart-rending” from families of those deported, the high commissioner said he was concerned about the “dignity and the human rights of the individuals earmarked for deportation”.

"The high commission had called a meeting of about 45 relatives of those deported, and also those who were still detained in immigration removal centres having escaped deportation, to hear their accounts of how people had been put on a charter flight earlier this month. The high commissioner was hoping to understand the details of how the Jamaican nationals had been treated, as part of an investigation, to inform a discussion with the Jamaican government about how they cooperate with the Home Office on future deportations."

We commend the High Commissioner for calling on the government to halt these deportations and acknowledging the inhumanity faced by those targeted and their families and we hope that his engagement with all of us will help to influence the Jamaican government in how they respond to the British government when they attempt to deport people for the future. 

Regards

Zita

On behalf of BAME Lawyers for Justice