Woman who fled sexual abuse deported to Jamaica ‘because Home Office fax machine broken’
Fifteen attempts to fax urgent representations all “failed to receive”, according to the non-profit law firm Habeas Corpus Project
The law firm claim they were given no alternative fax number or email address to send the documents to despite many requests Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
A woman who fled sexual abuse in Jamaica was deported back to the country because the Home Office’s fax machine was broken, lawyers have claimed.
The woman, known only as JP, was forcibly removed from the UK at 12:40pm on Friday, despite repeated attempts to fax information about her case to the Home Office that morning, which could have delayed her flight.
Fifteen attempts to fax urgent representations all “failed to receive”, according to the non-profit law firm Habeas Corpus Project.
The law firm claim they were given no alternative fax number or email address to send the documents to, despite many requests. The Home Office allegedly told them the fax machine was working and they “should keep trying”.
Three minutes after JP’s plane left the runway the project were told the fax machine was not working, according to reports on the firm’s website.
Only after the flight had left did the National Removal Committee gave an email address to send representations to, the law firm claim.
JP fled Jamaica flowing a lifetime of extreme abuse, according to the project. She had been in the UK for seven years and had no criminal offences.
Last week, an independent medical practitioner at Yarl’s Wood found her history of repeated sexual abuse to be genuine and said it amounted to torture.
The representations made by the law firm on Friday morning requested the delay of JP’s flight until the new medical evidence could be considered.
In response to the allegations the Home Office said that while there were problems with a fax machine on Friday, an alternative email address was given and the representations were received and considered.
The individual’s claim for asylum was certified as unfounded on 18 May, the Home Office said.
A fresh asylum application was submitted on the day of removal after several failed representations, but contained no fresh evidence and made no difference to the removal, they added.
A Home Office spokesman told The Independent: “All applications are considered on their individual merits, including any compelling and compassionate circumstances, and in line with the immigration rules.
“Last minute representations that offer no fresh evidence and are simply designed to frustrate the removal process are liable to be refused.”
Habeas Corpus Project said: “We are deeply saddened and frustrated by what has occurred. The intransigence of the Home Office means they have failed to uphold fairness and justice, and are now returning a survivor of hideous abuse to the country from which she escaped.”
The firm say they are looking to make an official complaint.
Dem so quick fi deport its unbelievable
Met, Met…what a gwan? Q: England ever gave a Jamaican refuge status before? me ago do research.
Of course they give but dem so quick fi deport now they dont care..u would think di whole a england full a immigrants and a di same immigrants dem used to beg fi come deh come build di place
I’m stuck on that bloody word…Asylum is what I should have said. I see that gays get it the most- minus the so-call Bisexual one the other day 😀
I’ve read a parliament document and I must say the UK asylum process is pretty clear cut and human rights is basically the mission statement back and forth.
First step ” An asylum seeker who does not claim asylum at port of entry must lodge a claim at an
Asylum Screening Unit (ASU) within three days of arriving in the UK”
They make a lot of provisions for claimants too.
Girl, dem looking fi get rid of ppl so dem can meck space fi di Syrian refugees dem. Least likkle ting now dem a deport. I always talk seh anybody can get sent home back to weh dem bawn cause history has shown that time and again. Nobody nuh fi get too comfortable bout dem a citizen and ‘straight’ blah blah balh. Citizenship can teck back and anyone can get sent back to weh dem come from.
I feel for this woman because it is obvious she needs to be in a place where she is safe and a completely different environment to keep out di bad memories.
A so dem stay, them don’t like the very people who mek dem nyam food and not sjit. Luk pan dem. Ah dem same tings yah one cousin ah mine sey him affi deal with every time he call immigration bout a waiver.
ENGLAND!!! Yo mi ah tell yu bout dat piece ah country. Dem nuh normal atall. One ah my sister ah shit bullets right now, because she har 3 years permit fe how long and england woulda ded if dem give har de indefinite.
Peter Tosh says it best…if yu is a banana from Jamaica it does not matter which part ah worl unnu de, UNNU IS STILL A JAMAICAN. Becaws some people get dem “citizenship” an claim say dem cyaa get run weh…BUT people fe look closely pon de US citizenship paper it says ALIEN NATURALIZATION…dat mean say ANYBODY WEH NO BORN IN DE US AH ALIEN. PERIOD!!!
PPL STOP BRAG BOUT UNNU STR888 AND HAVE CITIZENSHIP, becaws to de owna fe de land, we ah ALIEN. I have my citizenship for quite sometime now and when people asked me where I am from I PROUDLY say JAMAICA, but citizen in America pon paper.
FYI:
“The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Section 94 (4)) made provision for a list of countries from which
asylum or human rights claims are to be certified as clearly unfounded unless the claimant is able to satisfy the
Secretary of State that their asylum claim is not clearly unfounded. 17 countries are currently on the list: Albania,
Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Ghana (males only), India, Jamaica, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria (males
only), Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Ukraine.”
Sadly, this seems to be a time issue and lack of supporting evidence to show that she will be persecuted once she returns and that she cannot be protected and liaison may not have gotten anyone to say that her story is so- base on the “see and blind, hear and deaf” attitude of people in denial.
I’m going to wait till about 2 wks and mek an inquiry.