UK responds to deportation article
Dear Editor,
I found your article of 3 March on returnees misleading (‘Another mass deportation flight expected from the UK…’).
The UK Government always encourages voluntary departure for those who have no legal basis to remain in the UK. If they do not wish to leave voluntarily, then we need to make other arrangements.
Every case is carefully considered on its individual merits and all decisions are taken in accordance with the law.
Of those returned, some are people who have committed crimes in the UK and served their sentences in prison. Others are immigration offenders who no longer have a valid reason to stay. All are Jamaican nationals.
We work closely with the Jamaican authorities to help them resettle. Since 2008, the UK has invested around £5 million in resettlement projects alone in Jamaica, working with both Government and non-governmental organisations to develop support services to reintegrate and rehabilitate those who return.
David Fitton
British High Commissioner
