Jamaicans who came to UK as children left off deportation flight

The Home Office and Jamaica made a deal not to remove the people who came to the United Kingdom as children by the charter flight to Jamaica this week.

Seth Ramocan, the high commissioner, said that the Home Office officials had agreed to not deporting Jamaicans who came to the UK when they were below the age of 12.

However, the Home Office denied to comment on the matter, and no public announcement was made.

The decision came after 82 black public figures including the model Naomi Campbell, author Bernardine Evaristo, and historian David Olusoga requested the airlines to not carry around 50 Jamaicans on the deportation flight which was scheduled for Wednesday.

Charter deportation flights of Home Office are a common way of removing the persons who are classed as having no right to remain in the country and includes persons who have serious criminal convictions.

A charter flight went from the UK to Jamaica in February.

Charter flights from the UK to Jamaica are mostly controversial because some persons who are earmarked for deportation came to the UK as children and have families there and also because of the Windrush scandal.

A Home Office-commissioned report from Stephen Shaw, the former prisons and probation ombudsman demanded a new approach towards the policy of detaining and removing people who had committed crimes but lived most of their lives in the UK.

The Home Office did not implement the recommendation of the report.

However, Ramocan said that the high commission had made representations before the Wednesday charter flight.

He added that an agreement was reached not to deport the persons who arrived as young children.

He added that it is not the law but a kind of understanding.

He said that consented to have an age limit.

The commissioner said that it is not law but a consideration, a request which was granted.