Thread by @GregBarradale

THREAD: Two months ago, 50 people were detained to be deported to Jamaica. Yet only four were on board as the plane left

Since then, I've spoken to detainees, lawyers and activists - and uncovered the human cost of the flights

Here's what I learned👇

bigissue.com/news/activism/…

"It’s like you’ve got some kind of illness and you’re just waiting to die"

That's how Mark Burkett, who served time in prison and was released, describes life battling the Home Office

He arrived in the UK, has two children, and has been detained for deportation twice since 2019

Priti Patel blames "galling last-minute legal claims" for the fact these flights leave almost empty

But those I spoke to say it's because access to legal help is a major challenge - it's often only in the days before deportation that detainees get proper solicitors

Campaigners say the number who get let off these flights, because of these appeals, shows how indiscriminate the Home Office's detentions are

"My heart bleeds for those who don’t have access to these services, because we know there are people that we miss," says @BellRibeiroAddy

✈️The flights are kept, as far as possible, secret. Even when Mark Burkett was detained, he only found out why at a court hearing

MPs, lawyers, and campaigners only find out about them through informal channels - leaving a last-minute scramble to get representation for detainees

🚌To get a sense of how tight things can get, activists chain themselves to the ground, to delay a bus taking detainees to the plane

A detainee from a past flight told me he was literally on the plane when he was told his claim to stay had been accepted

https://twitter.com/sdetsup/status/1458137715946385409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458137715946385409%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigissue.com%2Fnews%2Factivism%2Fthey-want-to-take-your-soul-the-race-to-stop-priti-patels-jamaica-deportation-flight%2F

🔵Priti Patel emphasises that the people being deported are hardened, convicted criminals

But for Mark's wife Angela there's a double standard: “He’s been to prison and he’s paid for the crime and been rehabilitated. Now they’re punishing him again, and me and the children.”

💸The stories of what life is like for families battling against this were hard to hear

But it's also worth considering the policy on its own merits: the flights cost around £200,000. That's £50,000 per deportee - before you include the cost of detention and the legal process

And what I've heard about the way they're carried out - detain first, and then release if due process by luck gets followed - calls into question Patel's rhetoric on whether it's 'last minute legal claims', or just a dysfunctional policy coming unstuck

bigissue.com/news/activism/…

This is all particularly relevant given the Nationality and Borders Bill - which would give the government greater powers to detain and deport - is entering the House of Lords for its second reading today
bigissue.com/news/activism/…