The Court of Appeal has halted the scheduled mass deportation of over 50 deportees to Jamaica. The landmark ruling which was made on Monday evening has ordered the home office to refrain from removing detainees from detention centers unless they can prove they had access to a functioning phone. This comes on the heels of a protest on Downing Street last week calling for an end to what has been described as racist immigration policy.
It has been described as a blow to the UK Government which planned the charter flight despite demonstrations from citizens and opposition politicians some days ago. Following reports that the deportation flight had been canceled, a Home Office spokeswoman stated that it was urgently asking a judge to reconsider the ruling.
However, others believe that the landmark decision was a victory for access to justice, fairness and the rule of law – a view that is shared by a British politician, David Lammy who has long been advocating for an end to deportation flights. According to him, the Boris Johnson led government is suppressing an independent review so it can knowingly and intentionally defy the recommendations that have been made.
Lammy goes further to state there should be no more deportation flights until the Windrush lessons learned review is published and its recommendations implemented.
President of the Jamaica Association for the Resettlement of Returning residents, Percival Latouche is hoping that this court ruling will the first step in ending all deportation flights and prevents another Notting Hill riot. There were riots in the West London community of Notting Hill in 1958, 1976 and 1981, they highlight periods when racial tensions were at an all-time high in the UK. It has long been believed that the UK deportation law was racist immigration policy.
KHADIJAH THOMAS
