An update on the deportation flight to Ghana and Nigeria:
A USC Aero flight took off on 17 October, from Stansted, around an hour after its scheduled departure of 10pm. We are not sure how many were on the flight, but we believe the flight was full, given that there were five coaches and some vans full of people.
The lack of transparency around this flight was deliberate, as usually anti-deportation organisations are able to find out the airline, airport and flight number relatively quickly, and are able to mobilise members of the public. In this situation, the airline and airport were unknown until the last minute.
The people we spoke to also had never had the opportunity to speak to a solicitor at all, and had not been given enough notice before the flight to find one.
We tried to secure legal support last night for the people onboard but sadly we were unable to get them off the flight. We also know that hardly any people were taken off the flight.
Thank you to everyone for expressing their support in comments and DMs, and for wanting to help out.
We are trying to reach some of the people who were onboard and we are waiting to hear back from them.
The cruelty of this Government truly knows no bounds. We stand in collective rage and solidarity with all those who have been deported and all those facing deportations.
END DEPORTATIONS NOW.
Personal stories
Prior to the flight, we managed to contact some of the people on board the flight. Here are their stories.
Lucky’s story
My name is Lucky. I am from Nigeria. I was born there. I come from a very poor family. My father is a farmer. I am a farmer too and a truck driver. My mum died in 2011, and my dad died in 2014. I was on the farm in 2015. Boko Haram attacked us, kidnapped us and took as to the forest. They asked we are christian or muslim. My brother said we are Christian. They want us to join them. Before we join them we have to renounce Jesus and become Muslim. My brother said no. They shot him in the chest. He died. I found a way to escape. They shot me on my hand. I finally escaped.
They took my picture and are looking for me.
In 2022 I left Nigeria and I came to the UK. In Nigeria I was living in the bush (2015-2021). In 2021 I went back to the capital to work. I was coming back from Abuja to my hometown when Boko Haram attacked me. I started planning to leave Nigeria and applied for a visa to the UK in 2021.
If I go back now they are going to look for me. I will not be safe at all.
When they told me I will have to go back it affected my mental health. It made me think of my brother and what happened to me. I am not fine. I am living just by the grace of god. If they take me back now I don’t know where to start. I will have to go back to the bush.
George’s story
Most of the people who have removal notices just want to live a simple life, go back to their family and friends outside. They have overcome so much to be here.
Here in detention people have serious mental breakdowns as so many have attempted taking their lives. People would rather die than be on the plane, and this is not being taken seriously. The Home Office is playing politics with people’s lives. We have not done anything wrong rather than cry for help. Many of the people in detention have been caught out by unfamiliar admin processes with little or no help as our chances are bound to fail. You have to have so much strength to leave your home country and the danger there. A lot of people have journeyed dangerously through unconventional means through the deserts and rafts which have often led to modern slavery and death . People are not eating or sleeping. No one is paying attention. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said “Remember, remember always , that all of us, you and I especially, are descendants of migrants”. Hear our cry for help.