“With no tests carried out and insufficient social distancing in place, all those on that plane, including escorts, have been put in harm’s way. James Wilson, the deputy director of Detention Action, which supports people held in immigration detention, said: “At a time when the official government advice is that we don’t fly, it is staggering that the Home Office thought it appropriate to charter a private plane removing people to Poland.
The woman deported to Poland said she had not been able to contact her solicitor, so felt she had no choice but to board the flight. People in immigration detention have access to solicitors, although mostly by phone rather than face-to-face visits during the lockdown. Immigration removal centres follow all Public Health England advice and if a detainee presents as symptomatic they have access to tests and appropriate medical care.” On Thursday Colin Dobell, the managing director and founder of Mitie Care & Custody, the largest provider of immigration detention services to the Home Office, told the home affairs select committee that he had recently contacted the Home Office to ask for routine Covid-19 testing for immigration detainees.Ī Home Office spokesperson said: “There was no formal request for routine testing, and as people would expect testing has been prioritised for the sick and frontline workers. She said none of the passengers were tested for Covid-19 before boarding the plane. Although this flight was a voluntary return, I did not want to go.” “I suffer from depression and PTSD and have had to leave my brilliant 11-year-old son behind.
The woman said she had lived in the UK for a decade, working in a restaurant, and had served six months in jail for a minor offence.
Scotland lockdown flights how to#
The plane was chartered at a time when no consensus had been reached by airlines about how to safely restart flying for the public. The Home Office said distancing rules were adhered to on the flight.
One member of staff said to me after the flight landed in Poland: ‘If one of us doesn’t get Covid after this flight it will be a miracle.’ It was all a bit scary.” People were walking up and down the aisles brushing against each other all the time. It was impossible to maintain the two-metre social distancing rule on the plane. “We were given masks but some people took them off. The woman, who was placed into quarantine on her arrival in Poland, questioned whether it could be defined as “essential travel” and said it was impossible to adhere to physical distancing rules during the flight. A woman on the flight said there were about 35 passengers, accompanied by around 40 to 50 Home Office escorts and plane crew.
0 kommentar(er)
