PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Deportations ahead of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review Publication (12 February 2020)

This House deplores the Government's ongoing use of deportation flights to Commonwealth countries against the recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review; notes that while the publication of the Review has been much delayed without explanation, it is expected to recommend the cessation of all deportations of people who have lived in the UK since childhood; notes that the Government has sought to justify recent deportations on the basis of the serious nature of the offences perpetrated by deportees, where this is not borne out in many cases; believes that where deportations are enforced on Foreign National Offenders who have served their sentences, this amounts to double punishment on arbitrary grounds; further believes that long-term residents should be rehabilitated in an equal fashion to their British-passport-holding peers; fears that the characterisation of all deportees as serious criminals exacerbates anti-migrant sentiment, increases racial tensions and exposes those deported to greater risk upon return; remains concerned that the Government's approach demonstrates a failure to appreciate the significant damage to trust in immigration enforcement that the Windrush Scandal represented; and calls on the Government to immediately suspend all deportations of residents who have been in the UK since childhood, and to publish and implement in full recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review as a matter of urgency.

Sponsored by:
Nadia Whittome (Labour)