44 Nigerians and Ghanaians were forcibly deported on Saturday in a record-breaking flight. This marked a sharp increase in deportation numbers, as previous flights to Nigeria and Ghana since 2020 had carried as few as six individuals, with none exceeding 21 deportees. The flight is part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration, which has seen over 3,600 people deported since the Labour government took office in July.
A spokesperson from the UK Home Office confirmed the deportation and reiterated the government’s commitment to enforcing immigration laws, stating that those without legal rights to remain in the UK would be returned.
The deportations occurred amidst larger immigration issues, including asylum seekers arriving on Diego Garcia, a UK-administered island in the Indian Ocean. A treaty with Mauritius, set to be signed next year, is expected to relocate these asylum seekers to Saint Helena, a British territory in the Atlantic. However, it will not apply to approximately 60 Tamil asylum seekers who have been stranded on the island since 2021 and are currently fighting their detention in court.
Meanwhile, the surge of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel continues, with 647 individuals arriving from northern France in small boats just on Friday, pushing the total number for the year beyond 28,000.
Ahead of the deportation flight, ‘The Guardian’ interviewed four Nigerian men detained at the Brook House immigration removal center near Gatwick. One man, who had lived in the UK for 15 years seeking asylum, expressed his distress over the rejection of his claim, despite having no criminal record. Another detainee, a victim of human trafficking, revealed scars from torture, yet his asylum application was also denied.
Fizza Qureshi, the chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, criticized the deportations, highlighting the secrecy of the process and the limited access to legal support. She cited one detainee who accused the Home Office of “playing politics with people’s lives.”
The increased deportations and related humanitarian concerns have reignited debates surrounding the UK’s approach to immigration and asylum seekers.