A “major surge” in immigration enforcement and deportation operations has been confirmed by the UK Home Office.
According to The Guardian, 44 Nigerians and Ghanaians were sent back to their countries of origin by the British authorities in a single trip.
The article states that on Friday, October 18, the citizens of Ghana and Nigeria were flown back to their nations.
According to the research, deportation flights to Ghana and Nigeria are very uncommon. Only four such deportation flights have occurred since 2020, according to the publication, which cited data obtained under the freedom of information legislation. Prior to Friday’s trip, which had more than twice as many deportees as had ever been removed on a single flight, each of these flights had six, seven, sixteen, and twenty-one deportees, respectively.
A “major surge” in immigration enforcement and returns actions has been acknowledged by the Home Office.
“With over 3,600 returned in the first two months of the new government, 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,” a Home Office spokesperson told The Guardian.
The Islands of Chagos
The expulsion occurred during a period of significant shift in UK immigration policy regarding asylum seekers.
The British government has reached an agreement to eventually give the southeast African island nation of Mauritius control of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, following fifty years of struggle.
Although a treaty has not yet been finalized, both parties have pledged to complete the accord as soon as feasible.
In exchange for assurances that a US military post might remain operational in the Chagos for many years to come, the two governments jointly declared the Chagos, a remote collection of more than 60 islands, to be fully Mauritius’s.
The fact that any asylum seekers who reach Diego Garcia before a treaty between the UK and Mauritius to return the Chagos Islands is finalized will be sent to Saint Helena, a British territory in the Atlantic Ocean that is regarded as one of the most remote locations on Earth, is a crucial component of this historic agreement.
Next year is anticipated to see the signing of the Chagos Islands agreement. This explains the most recent wave of Ghanaian and Nigerian nationals being deported.
Since 2021, hundreds of asylum seekers have arrived at Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean. This is hardly comparable to the tens of thousands of people who have recently crossed the Channel in small boats from northern France to the UK.
“We’re shocked.”
Before being deported, four impacted Nigerians were detained at the Brook House immigration removal center near Gatwick, where The Guardian met with them.
One of the deportees wrote to the newspaper about how witnessing a cellmate attempt suicide traumatized him.
One person complained that after living in the UK for 15 years without a criminal record, the Home Office had denied his asylum application. Another described how, despite being a victim of human trafficking and presenting his childhood torture scars to Home Office personnel, his claim was rejected. Another individual also described his fruitless attempts to have his deportation orders contested by a solicitor.
Fizza Qureshi, the CEO of Migrants’ Rights Network, was quoted by The Guardian as stating that she was shocked to learn that the Nigerians and Ghanaians had been deported and that the asylum seekers had not committed any crimes that would have justified such punishment.
“We are extremely shocked at the cruelty of these deportations, especially with the speed, secrecy, and the lack of access to legal support,” stated Mr. Qureshi, who had communication with some of the passengers on the Nigeria/Ghana deportation flight prior to their departure.
Before he was placed on the flight, we met with one detainee, who said, “The Home Office is playing politics with people’s lives.” Other than pleading for assistance, we have done nothing wrong.
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