PM to meet with UK envoy
Published:Wednesday | November 10, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding and Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writers
Prime Minister Bruce Golding is to meet today with Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Ken Baugh and British high commissioner to Jamaica, Howard Drake, to discuss reports that the United Kingdom government plans to send home imprisoned Jamaicans before their sentences are completed.
Baugh stressed in Parliament yesterday that he has had word with the UK authorities and was assured that no unilateral decision was being contemplated by that nation's government.
Jamaica's National Security Minister Dwight Nelson had on Monday reacted angrily after reports surfaced in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper that British Prime Minister David Cameron was planning to send home prisoners of Jamaican and other nationalities, even if they do not consent to being deported.
Nelson argued that such a move would run contrary to the existing arrangements between the two nations.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail yesterday reported that cash incentives have tripled for prisoners to return to their home countries.
Quoting UK Border Agency Chief Executive Lin Homer, the newspaper stated that the cash provided to those currently serving sentences would be increased from £500 to £1,500.
The report stated that the overall value of the payouts for foreign offenders had been cut "due to the current economic situation". However, this money was intended to be used to help cover expenses such as accommodation, business or medical treatment.
Costing taxpayers
Of the 11,000 foreign inmates in British prisons, Jamaicans form the highest group, with close to 1,000.
It is reportedly costing British taxpayers £38,000 per annum to maintain each prisoner.
The issue has become big news on the streets of London, and even visiting Jamaican attorney-at-law Clayton Morgan said that human-rights organisations might want to take a closer look at Cameron's proposal.
"There will be legal problems encountered by the British government in compelling some of these prisoners who are British citizens to return to a country where they no longer have ties," he argued.