The Windrush debacle, where Afrikans that hade Britain their home for decades were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, was one of the biggest political scandals of last year. When the scale of the travesty came to light it cost the then home secretary, Amber Rudd, her job amid a series of hand-wringing apologies by prime minister (and Rudd’s predecessor) Theresa May. (1) It was later revealed that at least sixty-three people were wrongly deported. (2) As a result, the government stopped all planned deportation flights and initiated consultations on the Windrush compensation scheme and into “lessons learned” from the fiasco. The results of neither consultation has yet to be published but are scheduled to be this spring. (3)
So when news leaked that the flights to Jamaica were to resume in early February targeting some who have lived here since childhood and/or have no family in Jamaica, campaigners, like Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary, were in uproar:
“The Jamaican Government has colluded with the British government, launching a propaganda campaign to dampen public sympathy following the #WindrushScandal so they can restart their racist mass deportation charter flights to Jamaica and keep getting the UK’s dirty money for the mass expulsion of British Jamaicans. They are hoping to restart their racist charter flights to Jamaica with a mass removal on 6th February.” (4)
A spirited demonstration was held outside the Jamaican embassy in London two days before the scheduled flight. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB-5z9vQDJ4&t=4s)
According to reports, the flight went ahead landing in Jamaica on February 6th. (5) Home Secretary Sajid Javid, defended the flight, saying: “Every single person… deported is a foreign national offender, they are all convicted of serious crimes, very serious crimes.” (6) The Home Office added that the total combined sentences of the 28 men and one woman on the flight amounted to more than 150 years. (7) The government is using the UK Borders Act 2007 that authorises automatic deportation for any “foreign criminal” sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months.
The Jamaican Gleaner, seemingly in adherence to the UK government’s narrative, named the Titan Airways chartered jet , ‘Convict Flight’. (8) It also reported that convictions of those on the flight included: 4 convicted of a sex offence, including rape, 6 convicted of violent crime, including grievous bodily harm, 1 convicted of murder, 1 convicted of attempted murder, 14 convicted of drug offences, including supplying Class A drugs, 1 convicted of robbery, 3 convicted of firearm and weapons offences, 1 convicted of dangerous driving, pointedly adding that “none of the 29 were from the Windrush Generation.” (9) Whether this is the most effective characterisation to facilitate settling into a new environment remains to be seen.
However, other reports pointed out that at least eleven are connected to the Windrush Generation through grandparents, aunts and uncles. Eight have British born children and one grandmother separated from her British grandchildren. (10) In sum, more than forty children will be separated from a deported parent while they are being told by the UK government that they can parent their children by Skype. (11)
So far Javid has resisted calls to apologise for falsely claiming the deportees were all guilty of ‘very serious crimes.’ Tottenham MP David Lammy accused him of “deporting first and asking questions later “without considering whether the public interest in the removals was greater than the harm caused to those deported and their families, while Karen Doyle, of campaign group Movement for Justice, called the Home Secretary’s remarks were “patently untrue” and “a clear attempt to obfuscate the realities of the people affected and dampen public sympathy and support. This kind of ‘dog-whistle’ racist propaganda against immigrants must stop.” (12)
The Home Office’s characterisation of ‘dangerous criminals’ was undermined by the last minute reprieve given to some destined to be on the flight. These included thirty-six year-old British Army Veteran Twane Morgan. Bro. Twane served two tours in Afghanistan before being discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 91,000 signed a petition in support of his case. Forty-one year-old DJ and former youth worker Owen Haisley has also had his deportation cancelled. (13)
Twane Morgan’s case is noteworthy because his lawyers argued that had he not developed PTSD he would have served five years in the military, thereby automatically qualifying for citizenship. He also was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after his discharge, arguably adding to his immense personal cost of serving this country. (14) He served three years of a six year sentence for stabbing his girlfriend’s father after being attacked with a hammer. (15) Morgan’s solicitor, Rachel Okello, is keen to emphasise the importance of the case that she has taken this up both as a legal and political issue:
“As lawyers we tend not to get involved in the politics behind the law we practise. However, sometimes the injustice is so raw and so real that we have to come out from behind our desks and make a stand; this was the case with the Windrush and this has to be the case with Commonwealth soldiers serving in the British army.” (16)
Two other prospective deportees, Joseph Nembhard and Christopher Richards were also not on the flight due to the senior coroner for Lincolnshire issuing summons for them to attend a pre-inquest review on 11 March so as witnesses in the death of another Jamaican detainee, Carlington Spencer. (17)
In 2017 six people died in or shortly after transfer from immigration lock-up. Spencer was one of four who died at Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Lincoln. (18) This typifies what some refers to as the government created “hostile environment” policy whose aim “was to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration,” but “came to reflect a broader rancour towards migrants in the UK.” (19)
The government was quite prepared to see Nembhard and Richards spirited out of the country before they could testify at Carlington Spencer’s inquest in clear disregard for due process. The disregard shown to discerning the truth of Carlington Spencer’s demise and the fact of three other Morton Hall deaths in a relatively short period of time lays bare the disregard shown by the government seemingly keen to offset the embarrassment of the Windrush debacle where even ardent right-wingers, departed from the usual ‘send them back’ rhetoric to show support to this generation of Caribbean immigrants. (20)
The political ambitions of the Home Secretary also cannot be overlooked. Accused of “pandering to far-right racism,” as the front runner to succeed Theresa May he’s keen to position himself as in tune with the ardently xenophobic Brexit environment that will very possibly render the empathy afforded the Windrush Generation last year (21) – even as its victims continue to die. (22) He may respond that it is wrong to conflate the Windrush Generation with the recent deportees because the former where victims of long standing (punitive) political manoeuvres, whilst the latter were convicted criminals who were foreign nationals and therefore subject to existing legislation.
As noted above, the Jamaican government has also come in for criticism for accepting the charter flight, after it ostensibly rejected £25 million from the UK to build a prison on the island. (23) Its political inclinations aside, some question the Caribbean island’s (or any other neo-colony for that matter) capacity to resist the determined intentions of its former coloniser.
(1) Nadia Khomami and Goda Naujokaityte (30/04/18) How the Windrush scandal led to fall of Amber Rudd – timeline. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/30/how-windrush-scandal-fall-amber-rudd-timeline
(2) Ben Gelblum (02/02/19) Revealed: Home Office resume controversial chartered deportation flights to Jamaica with Windrush relatives caught in swoop. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/these-are-the-windrush-descendants-detained-now-for-mass-deportation-to-jamaica/02/02/
(3) Zita Holbourne (04/02/19) Stop the new deportation flights to Jamaica. They shouldn’t be happening. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/04/deportation-flights-jamaica-government-windrush-scandal. Comptroller and Auditor General (05/12/18) Handling of the Windrush situation. http://www.statewatch.org/news/2018/dec/uk-nao-report-windrush-situation-12-18.pdf ; Home Office (19/07/18) Terms of reference. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727184/WLLR_Terms_of_Reference_vn_5.0__003_.pdf
(4) Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary (04/02/19) The Lammy Review: An independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System. Ministry of Justice. p. 69. https://www.facebook.com/events/370003387116686/
(5) Paul Clarke (07/02/19) ‘We’re Not Dogs!’ – Deported Mom Of Five Blasts Gov’t For Abandoning Emigrants. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20190207/were-not-dogs-deported-mom-five-blasts-govt-abandoning-emigrants
(6) Luke de Noronha (06/02/19) Sajid Javid’s deportation flight shows the hostile environment in action. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/06/sajid-javid-windrush-deportation-criminal-jamaica
(7) Diane Taylor, Amelia Gentleman, and Nick Davis (07/02/19) Deportation flight lands in Jamaica after reprieve for some. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/06/jamaican-detainees-last-minute-deportation-reprieve-home-office-flight
(8) Holbourne. Op cit.
(9) Clarke. Op. cit.
(10) Gelblum. Op. cit.
(11)Holbourne. Op cit.
(12) May Bulman (07/02/19) Home secretary urged to apologise for falsely claiming Jamaica deportees were all guilty of ‘very serious crimes’. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sajid-javid-jamaica-deportation-crimes-home-office-hostile-environment-immigration-a8767986.html?fbclid=IwAR3iWp1bbmX9r2Wtp_Z212ZXXvePtf4qxbVlG3aRX_GV4O5JBNR6dVqMdvM
(13) Shamaan Freeman-Powell (06/02/19) Windrush row over criminal deportation flight to Jamaica. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47123841
(14) Bethan Staton (17/01/19) Veteran with PTSD who served in Afghanistan faces deportation to Jamaica. https://news.sky.com/story/veteran-with-ptsd-who-served-in-afghanistan-faces-deportation-to-jamaica-11609170
(15) Ibid.
(16) Rachel Okello (14/11/18) Solicitor calls for UK to stop deporting Commonwealth soldiers. https://clarityvisas.co.uk/blog/f/solicitor-calls-for-uk-to-stop-deporting-commonwealth-soldiers?blogcategory=Deportation
(17) Diane Taylor (04/02/19) Man facing deportation to Jamaica set to win last-gasp reprieve. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/04/man-facing-deportation-to-jamaica-set-to-win-last-gasp-reprieve
(18) Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi (31/08/18) Carlington Spencer: another death in UK immigration detention. https://www.opendemocracy.net/shinealight/rebecca-omonira-oyekanmi/carlington-spencer-dead-in-uk-immigration-detention
(19) Jamie Grierson (27/08/18) Hostile environment: anatomy of a policy disaster. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/27/hostile-environment-anatomy-of-a-policy-disaster
(20) Matthew Norman (29/04/18) The Windrush generation are the ‘right kind’ of immigrants, otherwise we wouldn’t care. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/windrush-generation-scandal-racism-muslims-pakistanis-theresa-may-amber-rudd-a8328141.html
(21) Bethan Staton (05/02/19) Home Secretary Sajid Javid accused of ‘pandering to far-right racism’ over Jamaica deportation flight. https://news.sky.com/story/home-secretary-sajid-javid-accused-of-pandering-to-far-right-racism-over-jamaica-deportation-flight-11628878
(20) INQUEST (13/13/18) INQUEST responds to police use of force statistics. https://www.inquest.org.uk/police-use-of-force-stats
(22) Phil Miller (05/02/19) Three more Windrush deaths but Javid goes ahead with Jamaica deportations. https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/three-more-windrush-deaths-but-javid-goes-ahead-with-jamaica-deportations?fbclid=IwAR200e1QdlpnbFnBGvx-rHHnXcKQHSWAKEZnnITF1BoNDXB5kIfMXIStOKU
(23) Ryan Sabey (26/02/17) ‘Complete Disgrace’ Anger as 300 foreign lags remain in British jails after £25m deal to send them back to Jamaica was rejected. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2957461/anger-as-300-foreign-lags-remain-in-british-jails-after-25m-deal-to-send-them-back-to-jamaica-was-rejected/
We ask the question:
Jamaica Deportations: Has the ‘Hostile Environment’ returned? Did it ever go away?
1) Has the Jamaican government really “colluded” with the UK government?
2) Can a distinction be made between the ‘Windrush Generation’ and the recent deportees?
3) Is it in the best interests of UK society to break up so many families?
4) Or is it do the crime, suffer the consequences?
5) Is it fair to criticise Jamaica given the pressure put on it by the UK?
Our Special Guest:
Sis. Rachel Okello: is a Solicitor who specialises in Immigration, Nationality and Deportation law. She has been a Solicitor since 2002 and has a background in criminal and family law. She combines this into her practice today where she has a special interest in Immigration involving human rights for families. Rachel has been involved in the recent chartered deportation flight to Jamaica where she secure a reprieve for two intended deportees including former Commonwealth Soldier in the British army, Twane Morgan.