Exclusive: Jamaican national suicidal after being detained for deportation flight

The deportation flight to Jamaica is believed to be scheduled for 1am
REMOVAL: Protesters rally against charter flight to Jamaica in November 2021

Two Jamaican nationals who have been detained ahead of a deportation charter flight have slammed the Home Office for its “unjust” treatment.

Both men are currently being held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow Airport ahead of a charter flight to Jamaica –which campaigners have confirmed will leave on August 11.

Speaking to The Voice, one of the Jamaican-born men said he would rather commit suicide, while in detention, than return to Jamaica because his life is in danger.

Akeem Finlay

Akeem Finlay, 31, is facing deportation following a GBH conviction in 2014, he said: “I’m not going back, I am going to take my own life if they ever come for me to put me on a charter flight.

“It is not a joke my life is in danger. My cousin got killed almost two years ago and they said ‘if any of his family come back the same thing is going to happen’. What am I meant to tell my kids? I might as well take my life over here, so my family over here can bury me. They are going to take my life, so I might as well take it myself!”

Mr Finlay told The Voice, he is petrified to return to Jamaica as all of his family had to flee the island, after he was a victim of a gang attack when he was just nine years old. His cousin, Dewayne Robinson, 37, was murdered on March 4, 2018, after he was deported to Jamaica and now he fears the same will happen to him.

I might as well take my life over here, so my family over here can bury me.

The risks for Jamaican returnees is extremely high. In 2019, The Guardian revealed at least five people who were returned from the UK to Jamaica had been killed, one of those named in the report is Robinson –Mr Finlay’s cousin.

After Mr Finlay was brutally stabbed in Jamaica, his mother sent him to the UK to live with his grandparents. He arrived in Britain when he was 10 years old and said the possibility of being returned “is unfair”, as all of his family are in the UK and he has no family or ties in Jamaica.

He had indefinite leave to remain and his grandfather began sorting out his naturalisation but passed away before he was able to complete the process.

Mr Finlay explained because of what happened to his cousin, he filed an asylum claim in 2020 and said the claim is not showing up on his record despite it being on his immigration history. He said: “They haven’t done anything in regards to my asylum claim. “They said they have refused it but my solicitor said he hasn’t seen anything saying it was refused on my immigration history. I am being held unlawfully because I do have an asylum claim in and I shouldn’t be threatened with deportation if I have claim,” he added.

Protesters hold posters campaigning against charter flights

He was scheduled to be on a controversial charter flight in February last year, but was granted last-minute reprieve after a legal challenge.

Mr Finlay feels because he wasn’t born in Britain he is being punished more severely. He said: “I have not absconded and I go to sign on when I am meant to. “I have served my time already, but it feels like they keep sending me back to jail for the one offence I did –which is not fair. It has been 10 years now since I committed a crime but I am still being punished for it, all these years later.”

He has lived in the UK for 21 years and attended primary and secondary school in London and has 14 A-C grade GCSEs. He is worried his five British children will be deprived of a father if he is forcibly removed.

His four children and step-son are all under the age of 11 and he is the main carer for all of them –while his fiancée and ex-partner work.

“My children have never been neglected or abused, I am there for them! “I am not allowed to work, so I look after my children while their mother provides for the household”.

His children are aged 10, eight, six and his step-son is five. Mr Finlay and his fiancée, Nicole Reid-Powell welcomed a baby girl into their family last year.

His fiancée told The Voice, she has been left “heartbroken” and her life has been turned upside down.

She said: “I am speechless he has been given removal directions. “It is very distressing and I think it is wrong. They are punishing him for something he has already been punished for.”

Ms Reid-Powell is now at risk of losing her job, as she has no one to care for her children while she works.

She said: “The only reason I was able to go to work is because he is a full-time dad supporting me”.

The recruitment consultant, said she received a phone call while at work a week and a half ago and was told she needed to collect her children from a South London immigration centre. Ms Reid-Powell was escorted by three officers into the centre to her partner and children but said things took an unexpected turn.

She said: “I went to meet him and the children in a corridor and when I turned around there were about eight or nine officers standing behind me.

“It was very intimidating and Akeem felt threatened.

Speaking to The Voice, she claims her 10-month-old baby daughter was held in the centre with her father for three hours, along with her five-year-old son. “It was very traumatic experience,” she added.

The mother-of-two from Thornton Heath, described her fiancé as “an amazing dad who would do anything for his children”. The mother-of-two criticised the Home Office for describing her fiancé as a “foreign criminal” and said the term strips him of his humanity.

She said: “That term implies he did something back in his country of origin but he didn’t. “There is so much more to him than that. Is he going to be labelled a criminal for the rest of his life for one mistake?”

Ms Reid-Powell believes if Mr Finlay was born in the UK, he would be able to live a normal life even after a conviction.

“They are using the fact that he wasn’t born here as a reason to punish him further. They are not only punishing him, but they are also punishing everyone around him, including his children,” she said passionately.

She also claims since her fiancé was detained her health has suffered and she has desperately contacted her local MP and the Jamaica High Commission for advice.

Speaking to The Voice, from Colnbrook detention centre, Mr Finlay, said his mental health is suffering as a result of being held. He said: “I’m on depression tablets and it is still not helping. I am feeling low and I am in distress.

Mr Finlay is facing deportation following a GBH conviction. He was jailed for six years in 2014, but had 10 months taken off for good behaviour and eventually served 28 months in prison. He was released in 2017 and has never reoffended. But at the end of July this year, he was detained by immigration officials.

Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance

Mr Finlay, who is a voluntary football coach, said the atmosphere in Colnbrook is very tense and many of the those being held are suffering from the lack of information being given to them.

“We are being punished twice, this is double punishment. It is like we have another prison sentence. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance,” he added.

M. McDonald

Another man told The Voice, he fears he will never see his family again if he is removed from the UK.

M. McDonald, 29, is also currently being held at the detention centre in Hillingdon. He said: “My life is here, my family is here and I have been here for 19 years –I class the UK as my home. “I have spent more time here, than I have in Jamaica. My family is here and this is where I need to be.”

Mr McDonald came to UK when he was 11, to join his father who was already in Britain with his wife in 2002.

He attended secondary school and college in the UK and was granted indefinite leave to remain. In 2017, he was charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. He was given a suspended sentence and was told by a judge as it was his first offence and he is a man of good character, he deserves a second chance and can do community service.

But months later, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed against the ruling and subsequently he was given a custodial sentence. In September 2017, he was sentenced to three years and three months in prison and served a total of 19 months. While in prison, he was approached by immigration services. 

He said: “They told me because I got a sentence of over 12 months I was going to be eligible for deportation.”

Mr McDonald is from Nottingham, and said he got a solicitor straightaway to fight his case, but his first appeal was rejected by the tribunal. He was released from prison in 2019 and was given immigration bail and has never reoffended.

Speaking to The Voice, he said is not allowed to work, study or claim any benefits and as a result has been relying on the support of his wife and father. He has five children with his British wife, who recently had a baby –just seven weeks ago. He also has two children from a previous relationship and is actively involved in their lives.

He said: “I take them to school and pick them up, I was just doing what I was suppose to do as their father, which comes natural to me.” 

In January 2020, he went to his routine immigration appointment and was detained. He was scheduled to be on the charter flight in February last year but was taken off the flight at the last minute.

Mr McDonald said he was bailed again and returned to his family and has been complying with the restrictions placed upon him and was reporting to immigration every Thursday. This year, on July 22, he went to his regular immigration appointment but was detained again.

He said: “What is frustrating is they haven’t told me why I am here. “All they have told me is I am eligible for deportation. I have been here a week and they haven’t told me much and this is stressing me.”

I am being punished 50 times over because I wasn’t born here. Since I have been out, I haven’t even got a parking ticket. I have complied with everything they have asked

He expressed his concern for his wife’s wellbeing. “When she calls, I can hear she is crying and every day the children are screaming down the phone ‘Daddy! Daddy! When are you coming back?’ that hurts so much,” he added.

He said: “I am actively involved in their lives every day. My children are my life and the thought of being away from them is heart breaking and I am lost without them,” he added.

He described the conditions in Colnbrook as “horrible” and said “the detainees have no access to a computer, internet or a printer.”

Mr McDonald acknowledged he committed a crime but says he served his sentence.

“I am being punished 50 times over because I wasn’t born here. Since I have been out, I haven’t even got a parking ticket. I have complied with everything they have asked.”

According to reports, three Birmingham residents have also been detained this week. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, foreign nationals who have received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months are eligible for deportation, unless a specified exception applies.

BARAC Petition to stop deportations

National Chair of BARAC (Black Activists Against Rising Cuts), Zita Holbourne, has started a petition to stop deportations. Ms. Holbourne said: “The deportation flight to Jamaica is on August 11 and is part of a government summer of mass deportations by charter flight.

“The Caribbean community is disproportionately targeted for deportations – and previous ones have included the Windrush generation and now they are targeting their descendants”.

“I urge anyone who is impacted or at risk to contact us if they need advice or legal representation –as it is crucial people get legal representation urgently”. Ms Holbourne encouraged anyone impacted by the recent detentions or who are at risk to contact them on this email: [email protected]

In November 2020, the Home Office and Jamaica agreed to ensure no one who came to the UK as a child/under the age of 12 were to face deportation. The Voice, asked the Jamaica High Commission whether they were aware some of the men being held in Colnbrook came to the UK as children.

The Jamaica High Commission spokesman said: “It should be noted that the agreement regarding persons who arrived in the UK prior to attaining the age of 12, was specific to a special charter flight in December 2020 only.”

The Voice contacted the Home Office for comment and they said: “We make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK and dangerous foreign criminals. That is why we regularly operate charter flights to different countries – to remove dangerous criminals, and those who have no right to be in the country but refuse to leave voluntarily. Our new Nationality and Borders Bill will create an immigration system that is fair but firm, welcoming those in genuine need but cracking down on those who come to the UK illegally.”

Comments Form

1 Comment

  1. | Angella

    God is God, no man should have the right of happiness taken away from them, a child should be the first priority with in a family, when a family is being disrupted like this, what will become of a child mental stability, how will they cope, I know ackeem finlay as a prefect little boy growing up, very obedient and respectable to his elders, and I now know and learn that he has being through trouble and trying time for his mistake that he had make, and has pay for the price,and is still under going unexcused pain for his sin, but let no man be a judge of his character, because persons make mistakes by following and walking down the wrong path, and if God can forgive the world, who is man kind the pass judgment over someone life.I will continue to pray for each and everyone who is going true these frustrating time, keep the faith young man and be strong for God is with us all.

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