Black celebrities call on UK to stop deportation plane

There is an increasing pressure on the UK government to halt a deportation flight to Jamaica.

The flight is supposed to have up to 50 people.

The flight, if takes off, would separate 31 fathers from their children.

Meanwhile, activists and campaigners appeal to the Home Office to stop the plane which is scheduled to leave on December 2.

82 Black British public figures, including actresses Thandie Newton and Naomie Harris, model Naomi Campbell, historian David Olusoga and writer Bernardine Evaristo, are requesting airlines which have allowed such charter flights to refuse any assistance previously.

The issue is trending on Twitter since the flight was announced under the hashtag #stoptheplane.

The flight which would fly to Kingston would be the second deportation operation this year to Jamaica.

The Home Office said that the flight would deport “convicted rapists and murderers”.

Under the UK law, a foreign national who is convicted of an offence and receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more than 12 months, are eligible for deportation.

However, Jacqueline Mckenzie, director for the Centre for Migration Advice and Research and human rights lawyer, said that the 12-month limit unjustly targeted people who are responsible for less serious crimes.

Mckenzie gave the example of a young man who she represented and was deported to Jamaica in February last year after he served 14 months in prison for driving offences.

She said that the majority of people to be deported are on the list for drug offences.

She added that if someone has been in the United Kingdom as a child, they should not be deported irrespective of what their offence is.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns over the impact of separating families if the flight takes off.

It is reported that eight of the men who are to be deported have 31 children, aged from three to 18.