Home Office spent £250K+ on Deportation Flights that were never used

Recent investigations into the implementation of UK immigration policy have concluded that the Home Office spent over a quarter of a million on charter flights to deport individuals over the last three months but did not utilize any of the planes.

According to an article published this morning in the Guardian newspaper, London, it has been found that around 12,000 immigrants are removed by force each year in the UK and a further 20,000 are removed under the voluntary returns route. The British government has used charter flights on a regular basis over the last 20 years or so, and have removed people to many different countries including Ghana Pakistan India Nigeria Albania Jamaica amongst others.

The use of charter flights represents the relentless implementation of immigration policy that can be seen as heartless or unfair.  In March 2019 as a result of a High Court challenge, the Home Office was forced to stop using chartered flights for the first time since 2001 (when the use of charter flights began). The challenge was initiated by a charity called Medical Justice who argued that it was unlawful for the Home Office to not inform people of their departure dates which can be seen as a restricting force on human rights due to the fact that the deportees were not given sufficient time to instruct lawyers or to at least try and prove their cases.

As a result of the High Court challenge, there has been a three-month suspension of charter flights for deportations and it is understood that the Home Office resumed using such flights on the 11th of July 2019. The Home Office has confirmed that during the three months where they did not use charter flights over £250,000 was spent but no flights took off during this period. The Home Office has stated that it does not only use charter flights for deportations but uses a mixture of charter and regular flights. Regardless of what kind of flights are used to deport an individual, the act of forcing someone to leave in such a way can be classed as unfair and there is no doubt that there is a percentage of people that have been removed who should not have been.

The Windrush Scandal demonstrated a big flaw in the U.K.’s immigration system and also made the news due to the fact that chartered flights were used to deport people back to countries within the Caribbean. Higher scrutiny after the Windrush Scandal has come down upon the Home Office and have made many watch the actions of this governmental institution further.

If you, a family member or a friend have been affected by unlawful or unfair Home Office deportations, our immigration solicitors London can help. Gulbenkian Andonian Solicitors specialise in all matters related to UK immigration and human rights and our team of top immigration lawyers can be of vital assistance to you or someone you know who is experiencing hardship as a result of an unfair Home Office decision.