Seven Jamaicans deported from UK instead of planned 90

Seven Jamaicans were this morning deported aboard a UK Home Office charter plane.

Ninety people were originally earmarked for deportation.

However, the UK Guardian reports that there was opposition from the Jamaican government because of COVID concerns.

There were also concerns about the vulnerability of some of those due to fly because of trafficking indicators and mental health problems.

The Guardian says a series of urgent high court injunction applications seeking to block some of the deportations continued almost until the flight took off at 1 o'clock this morning.

The estimated cost of a long-haul Home Office charter operation is thought to be about 300,000 British Pounds.

With seven people on board, that figure equates to about 43,000 British Pounds for each deportee.

While the vast majority of those due to fly were taken off the flight, the seven people who flew are believed to include three who were taken from prison.

Of the four taken from immigration detention, one was aged 64 and another 66.

One is thought to be suffering from mental confusion and is physically frail and had to be carried on to the plane.

He is believed to have a Windrush case.

Another recently lost a child in a case ruled by a coroner to be due to medical negligence and he had to leave his partner, the mother of their child, to grieve alone.

At least five of those due to fly had trafficking indicators due to county lines grooming.

The Home Office is reported to have given the Jamaican government assurances that nobody at risk of COVID would have been on the flight.

It came after at least two cases were confirmed in the detention centre days before the flight took off.

The Home Office said everyone due to fly had a negative PCR test.

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