Dear Supporter
With only 2 days to go before the flight is scheduled we are urgently trying to do so all we can to stop the flight , working with others.
We have learned that there at least two people who are booked on the flight who have taken overdoses, due to the trauma they are going through and the fear of what will become of them if they are deported.
Many booked on the flight came to the UK as small children, Britain is the only home they know. All have British families and most have British children . Their families are struggling already to manage emotionally and physically, including with caring responsibilities without them.
People who are loving parents, were permitted to work and have jobs here in the UK are now told they are a threat to society. Those booked on the flight have been demonise and all branded untruthfully as serious criminals by the government.
If you or somebody you know was booked on the charter flight to Jamaica in 2019 but was subsequently taken off it and released from detention, please can you get in touch.
Please write to your MP as a matter of urgency asking them to write to the Home Secretary raising concerns about the inhumanity of these planned deportations and stating that until the Windrush Lessons Learned report is published and the recommendations within it acted upon, there should be no deportations.
If you don't know who your MP is, you can contact them via this link using your postcode:
We are grateful to the Archdeacon of West Ham, The Venerable Elwin Cockett for intervening in one of the cases we are supporting of a 22 year old man who came to the UK as a child of 4 years of age. He said;
"I believe a young man who has succeeded in turning his life around deserves a second chance and that the law should be tempered with mercy"
In a letter to the Home Secretary, he called upon her to look into the case as a matter of urgency, to recognise the injustice that deportation would mean and to remove him from the flight without delay.
You can read the full letter
HERE
We have alarmingly received reports of two people impacted taking overdoses because of the trauma they are going through and the consequences for them if they are deported to Jamaica. One man told me that the gang that groomed him and forced him into criminal activity when he was very young have already murdered one of his friends and he believes he will be killed too and has told the Home Office this but they don't care. He has turned his life around , has been working for three years helping vulnerable homeless people and has a British family with 5 children dependent on him.
The failure of the government to comply with recommendations in the leaked Windrush Lessons Learned report, makes a mockery of it.
Following the excellent turnout by hundreds of people, quite rightly outraged, at our Emergency Protest outside Downing Street on Thursday evening, there is a second emergency protest called by Movement for Justice at the same place, 6pm until late, tomorrow, Monday 10th of February.
More details here:
Emergency demo Facebook event
Flyer here:
Emergency demo flyer on Twitter
Please join me in calling on the government to respect the rights of those they plan to deport and their loved ones and families, to human rights and access to justice and to end institutionally racist immigration laws and policies.
Please tweet the Home Secretary @patel4witham and @ukhomeoffice to register your concerns using hashtags:
#Jamaica50 #enddeportations #stopcharterflights
News reports:
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tories-forced-deportations-target-caribbean-communities
Thank you for your support.
Regards
Zita
Zita Holbourne
National Chair BARAC UK