| By Adejumo Adekunle –
In an unprecedented deportation flight, 44 Nigerians and Ghanaians were forcibly expelled from the UK on Friday, marking a significant escalation in immigration enforcement. The Home Office confirmed that this action is part of a wider crackdown, which has led to the deportation of over 3,600 individuals since the Labour government took office in July.
This operation coincides with the news that asylum seekers arriving at Diego Garcia, a UK-administered island, before a treaty with Mauritius is finalized, will be relocated to Saint Helena, a British territory in the Atlantic. The upcoming Chagos Islands treaty, expected to be signed next year, will not cover approximately 60 Tamil refugees stranded on Diego Garcia since 2021, who are now pursuing legal action regarding their detention.
While hundreds of asylum seekers have arrived at Diego Garcia, their numbers are small compared to the tens of thousands crossing the English Channel in small boats from northern France. Just on Friday, 647 migrants made the dangerous journey in 10 boats, pushing this year’s total past 28,000.
Deportation flights to Nigeria and Ghana have been relatively rare, with only four recorded since 2020, and earlier flights carrying far fewer individuals—ranging from six to 21 people. This latest flight, carrying 44 deportees, more than doubled the number seen in previous removals.
Before their deportation, The Guardian spoke to four Nigerian men detained at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick. One, who had been in the UK for 15 years seeking asylum, expressed his frustration: “I have no criminal record, but the Home Office still refused my claim.” Another man, a trafficking survivor bearing scars of torture, shared that his asylum request had also been rejected.
Fizza Qureshi, the chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, criticized the deportations, pointing out the lack of transparency and legal support for the detainees. She quoted one who said, “The Home Office is playing politics with our lives. We haven’t done anything wrong but ask for help.”
In response, a Home Office spokesperson defended the deportation, stating that the government is committed to enforcing immigration laws and ensuring that individuals without the legal right to remain in the UK are returned.
