Over twenty people gathered in central Cardiff on Wednesday to coincide with the ‘ethnic charter flight‘ that deported Nigerian families at 6pm. There was also protests by Stop Deportation Network in London and Residents Against Racism in Dublin.
We distributed hundreds of copies of a leaflet explaining ’ethnic charter flights’, our opposition to them and deportations in general with specific reference to Nigeria. The was no police presence and the reaction from people passing by was very supportive. Many who stopped to speak to people on the demonstration expressed shock that such mass expulsions were legal (its not sanctioned by the European convention) and disgust at how Nigerians were being treated with such contempt by the UK government.
The details of these flights are not publicly released so it is to difficult to piece together information about them. There appears to have been at least 82 persons on board from the UK, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland before more deportees were forced aboard in Spain. With the involvement of this number of European states, which is also believed to include Luxembourg, Slovakia and Malta, it comes as no surprise that there have been reports that this deportation flight was carried out in conjunction with Frontex – the EU Border Agency, of which Britain is not officially yet a part.
Due to pressure from anti-deportation campaigners on commercial airlines and a desire to circumvent their own legal system, the government appear to be stepping up the number of specially commissioned deportation flights. In the last week alone, along with this flight to Nigeria there was a flight to Afghanistan on Tuesday and a planned flight to Cameroon on Friday, which was thankfully cancelled. Another ‘ethnic charter flight’ is due to fly to Iraqi Kurdistan next week, no doubt the government have many more planned.
As the brutality and injustice of the Border regime is exposed, the natural response of the state is to move the more ‘unpalatable’ practises away from the public gaze. Opponents of injustice must come together to resist the growth of this highly secretive and immoral method of social control.
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May 4, 2009 at 9:39 am
John
Nutters!
I’m from Scotland have lived and worked in Nigeria for over 6 years now. There are hordes of Nigerians desperately trying to get to the UK to make use of the social security, health and belief that the UK will give them paradise at no cost. The High Commission in Lagos is one of the worlds busiest, not because of terror, reprisals and injustice in Nigeria, but because the UK is seen as a soft touch. Nigeria for the most part is not a terrible place, the communities are close and fairly safe. The UK must not become a dumping ground for those who choose to free-load the UK rather than work to change their own country. It must not also be seen a soft-touch for those who would happily turn to criminal means rather than legitimate work. Nigerians have a very poor work ethic in the main part, where fraud and graft are legitimate business means. Lying is not ‘bad’, it is part of the negotiation process. All illegal Nigerians must be deported lest they apply their ‘normal’ standards whilst living in the UK…..
January 26, 2010 at 2:00 am
Merlin Ap Ceridwen
deport anglosaxon-norman aristocrat pimps !¬