Dear Supporters
Thank you to everybody who came to our protest at Downing Street on Thursday evening. There were hundreds in attendance and we were joined by families, community and campaign groups and several MPs, including Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott and Shadow Immigration Minister, Bellavia Rebeiro-Addy. The protest stopped traffic for 2 hours on Whitehall.
It attracted National and International media coverage and was featured on BBC Newsnight the same evening where the lead story was on our protest and the leaked Windrush lessons learned report which has been hugely delayed.
We have maintained that there should be no deportations whilst the report has not been published or recommendations within it acted upon. But we are also calling for an independent public inquiry into the Windrush scandal.
It was revealed that the leaked report recommends that there should be no deportation of anyone who came to the UK as a child. We know that several people booked on Tuesday's deportation flight came to the UK as children.
One of these is a 22 year old young man who came to the UK aged 4. His mother, father, younger brother and extended family are British citizens and he was given indefinite leave to remain as a child. Aged 17 he fell under the influence of the wrong people and was sent to prison. Since coming out he has turned his life around and remained in the same job working hard. He had nobody in Jamaica and the only home he has ever know is the UK.
It is totally unacceptable to tear him from his family and deport him to a place he does not know, destitute and alone. He has served his time and been rehabilitated.
Many of those targeted for deportation have also been denied access to legal representation and thus justice because phone signals at a number of removal centres have been down for several days meaning that on top of the distress people are already going through they are unable to speak with their legal advisors, when time is of the essence, or their loved ones.
Here is some of the news coverage we have received;
https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/hostile-environment-forced-deportations-resumed
We still need your help as the situation is urgent.
Please share this petition widely, other things you can do are to write to your MP raising concerns, tweet the Home Secretary Priti Patel @patel4witham to complain and use the hashtags #jamaica50 #enddeportations #stopcharterflights
We are planning another demo outside Downing Street on Monday and will update you with details.
Thank you for standing with us. Targeting of the Caribbean community for inhumane detentions and deportations is not only unjust but deeply racist. And must be challenged.
Regards
Zita