"Detainees earmarked for the UK government's one in, one out scheme who had tickets for a flight on Wednesday morning to Paris were told their tickets had been cancelled. One person who had his ticket cancelled said: I came on a boat with 80 people onboard. Ten of us were detained and 70 were taken to hotels because their asylum claims will be processed here. That's not fair."
"The report highlights concerns from detainees that while the majority who arrive on small boats are having their claims processed in the UK a minority have been detained and issued with removal directions for France. The report states that the men consider their detention to be arbitrary and discriminatory. It adds: We are not criminals. We are people who fled war, persecution, and injustice. We came to the UK believing in human rights, freedom, and protection. Instead, we are detained, isolated, and silenced."
A deportation charter flight planned to return asylum seekers who crossed to the UK on small boats to France was cancelled shortly before departure. Detainees with tickets were told they were cancelled and were not given reasons. A report compiled by 80 detainees at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre said most arrivals have claims processed in the UK while a minority are detained and issued removal directions to France. The report said the men consider their detention arbitrary and discriminatory and described themselves as people who fled war, persecution and injustice seeking human rights and protection. Cancellation may trigger tens of thousands of pounds in compensation to the plane lessee, though specific UK–France charter arrangements are unclear.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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