A flight, which was to contain 90 Jamaican nationals departed with just seven individuals onboard.
The 83 individuals who did not board the charter flight – due to cancelled tickets – must try and get bail in order to leave the detention centre where they were collected from.
In an interview with MyLondon, Karen Doyle, a national organiser at Movement for Justice, claimed the seven deportees were put up in quarantine hotels in Jamaica for a total of three days, but weren’t tested for Covid-19 upon arrival.
It is claimed one man travelled on a coach to Stansted with other deportees and staff, and tested positive for Covid the following day.
The individual, who wasn’t among those on the flight as his ticket was cancelled last minute due to a temporary injunction, may have infected other passengers.
As a result of this, Karen alleges that there is “no way that there wasn’t Covid-19 on that flight and yet no one was tested when they touched down in Jamaica or since”, and is criticising the Home Office for their negligence towards the virus.
The quarantine hotel stay for just three days has been branded by the activist as “useless”.
Currently, the UK quarantine hotel policy states passengers must spend 11 nights in quarantine hotels after returning from red list countries, regardless of testing negative for Covid or being fully vaccinated.
90 deportees were set to be deported by the Home Office for previous criminal convictions, but the charter flight left from London’s Stansted airport with just seven onboard as many tickets were cancelled last minute.
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Deportees were given as little as £40 to live off upon arrival in Jamaica, according to claims made by Karen and many are said to be suffering with their mental health.
Among those who were deported is a male who is the main caregiver for his family, who remain in the UK. The deportee usually looks after his seven and 11-year-old children while his wife, who has cancer, works.
The 1am flight consisted of deportees who were collected from Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre.
Karen claims many “Jamaican nationals back in Colnbrook are struggling severely with their mental health” and that there were “two suicide attempts just hours before the charter flight”.
She also alleges that two Colnbrook residents were taken back to prison on Thursday, despite them being released earlier this year.
The Home Office was contacted by Express.co.uk for comment.
