How can 50 people be snatched from their families and deported to Jamaica?

The UK government’s decision to forcibly remove 50 people to Jamaica on Wednesday morning, deporting them on a private charter plane, was unjust and unfair.

Among those targeted were parents, grandparents and partners of people still resident in the UK, some who are primary carers and one with a mental health condition. All but one had children. Many had been living in the UK for over 10 years, with some arriving in the country as small children, even babies.

They included people who had not reached the end of the immigration process in the UK, in terms of naturalisation and appeals, and some who may be in this situation due to administrative errors made by parents while they were still children. I understand that one person was completing the process of naturalisation before their British-born partner died; they were then told that, as a result of their partner’s death, it could no longer be concluded. They should have been allowed to finish this process. Then, once they had completely exhausted all appeals, the government should have given them the option of returning to Jamaica themselves, independently, paying for their own flights. This would have allowed them to make applications to return to the UK if they wanted to.

By deporting them, their right to apply and return has been taken away.

Lawyers representing some of those who were targeted were successful on Tuesday evening in challenging the deportation of their clients, with at least seven people taken off the flight.

But many more were unsuccessful. It was inappropriate for the UK to gather up so many and such a mix of people – each facing different circumstances and with a different status – in one big sweep, and to charter an aircraft to deport them all at once. Because of the way in which they were removed, the assumption made by some people is that they were all criminals and all in the UK illegally. This has stigmatised everyone on the flight.

Many will have built lives in the UK, have not known Jamaica as an adult and have no family there. Their families in the UK have been ripped apart. On their arrival in Jamaica they will be vulnerable and may face homelessness, poverty and destitution.

On Wednesday morning I spoke to the partner of one of the people on the flight. He, like all asylum seekers, was required by the Home Office to sign in frequently at reporting centres or police stations. She told me that two weeks ago, when signing in, he was seized, handcuffed and sustained injuries, and taken to an immigration removal centre. He has a heart condition and diabetes and was subsequently taken to a hospital where his injuries were photographed. He had been signing in every week and electronically tagged for two years.

A few months ago he went through an appeal, and then a fresh appeal was refused, as well as a judicial review. His partner said he had access to a phone and was able to call her from the plane; he told her he had been driven right up to the plane, surrounded by police and taken to an undisclosed location. Each of the people on the flight was taken on board one by one.

In the background, as he spoke, she could hear crying, screaming and shouting from others on the flight. The pleas and cries will haunt her for ever, she added; the heart has been ripped out of her family. She and her partner have seven children and four grandchildren between them, and her partner was their only grandfather. This is one family’s story, but there will be many others like this.

Among those rounded up to be removed are a former soldier who served in the British army, a father of three who arrived in the UK aged four, and one who had arrived to sign in with his baby in a pushchair. While detaining him, the Home Office called social services to take his baby.

This “snatching” of people with no warning who are attending their routine signing-in appointments could make individuals fearful of attending putting them in a Catch-22 position. These are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and not have fear instilled in them.

Astonishingly, the Home Office suggests that people who have been deported can remain in touch with family and keep up their parenting responsibilities via Skype and email.

There are reports that there is to be another deportation flight to Jamaica in a couple of months’ time. Despite assurances during the EU referendum campaign that there would be a fairer response towards Commonwealth citizens if the country voted in favour of Brexit, this is clearly not the case.

It seems like those seen as easy targets are being rounded up for mass forced removals in order to reduce immigration numbers, with no consideration for personal circumstances, health, family, length of time spent in the UK, or whether they were minors when they arrived. There also seems to be no consideration for human rights; article 8 of the European convention on human rights, for instance, which covers family and private life.

It is clear that anybody not naturalised is at risk and needs to seek urgent legal advice. Those targeted were given just two weeks between being detained and deported to challenge, seek advice and legal representation. Legal aid cuts are also an issue; these mean that those most likely to face injustice have the least access to justice. Justice should not be a privilege for the wealthy, and given the time constraints faced by those deported, there was very little chance for communities to respond, raise awareness and campaign.

It is also of grave concern that airline carriers participate in forced removals and in future any campaign to challenge such inhumane deportations must also consider the role of the aviation sector and airlines. There must also be calls for the Jamaican government to refuse to collude with racist immigration laws and policies that inhumanely target individuals and destroy families and to refuse to accept such chartered removal flights, carrying people against their will, to land on Jamaican soil.

In 2010, Jimmy Mubenga died on a deportation flight while being restrained by security guards. The fact that he was on a plane with paying passengers meant there were witnesses to the truth, but on flights like the one today, there are no paying passengers or independent witnesses.

Despite the short amount of notice regarding the planned deportation, campaigners responded quickly. A petition that was started on Tuesday has attracted over 2,000 signatures. The comments include reports from family members whose loved ones where taken on Wednesday morning or who have family members who have experienced similar targeting in the past.

An emergency demonstration was held outside the Jamaican high commission on Tuesday, and BARAC (Black Activists Rising Against Cuts) UK in collaboration with other community activists from across the country on Tuesday evening did an emergency call-out for people to contact Heathrow airport and the duty immigration officer to complain about the forced removal using the hashtag #Jamaica50. BARAC is planning another demonstration in the next couple of weeks. When individuals are deported on scheduled flights, it is also possible to lobby the airline or aircraft carrier.

This inhumane targeting and tarnishing is not acceptable. It isn’t just those deported who are affected but also the families left behind – the children left without parents and the loved ones who are separated. The consequences are lasting, devastating and unfair.