A record number of Nigerians and Ghanaians were deported on a single flight, with 44 individuals forcibly removed on Friday, October 18, according to the Home Office.
The Home Office stated that these deportations were part of a “major surge” in immigration enforcement and returns, as reported by the Guardian UK.
Since Labour took power, approximately 3,600 people have been returned to various countries, including around 200 to Brazil and 46 on a flight to Vietnam and Timor Leste.
Regular deportation flights are also conducted to Albania, Lithuania, and Romania.
Deportation flights to Nigeria and Ghana are relatively uncommon, with only four recorded since 2020, according to data released under freedom of information laws. Previous flights had significantly fewer passengers, with only six, seven, 16, and 21 individuals on board, making Friday’s flight notable for having more than double that number.
The deportation coincided with reports that any asylum seekers arriving in Diego Garcia before the finalization of a treaty between the UK and Mauritius regarding the Chagos Islands will be sent to Saint Helena, a British territory in the remote Atlantic Ocean....Read Full Article [Click Here>]
One of four Nigerians interviewed by the Guardian while detained at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick prior to deportation attempted suicide. His cellmate, who witnessed the incident, described being “very traumatized” by what he observed.
Another detainee stated, “I’ve been in the UK for 15 years as an asylum seeker. I have no criminal record but the Home Office has refused my claim.”
Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants’ Rights Network, who was in contact with individuals on the Nigeria/Ghana deportation flight, expressed her shock: “We are extremely shocked at the cruelty of these deportations, especially with the speed, secrecy, and the lack of access to legal support. In the words of one detainee we spoke to before he was put on the flight: ‘The Home Office is playing politics with people’s lives. We have not done anything wrong other than cry for help.’”
A Home Office spokesperson commented: “We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced, with over 3,600 returned in the first two months of the new government.”
