FFBJ welcomes the UK Government decision to freeze deportation of violent criminals to Jamaica. The Jamaican Government confirmed that they secured this agreement with the British Government to freeze the deportation of Jamaicans serving time for violent offences in United Kingdom prisons.
This was revealed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Kampala , Uganda , that the agreement was concluded during talks with British leader Gordon Brown.
The Prime Minister said "We got a commitment from him that those who are going to be coming down in the immediate future are persons that do not include those who have been convicted of violent offences," Mr. Golding said.
It is a positive step in the right direction. Both the UK and Jamaican Governments need to address this matter in a constructive and sustainable manner; in consultation with keys Friends of Jamaica Organisations like Hibiscus and other interested parties.
See Rory Carrol article in the Guardian International entitle: Home without hope: the deportees blamed for a tropical crime wave.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2047914,00.html
Summary of recent reports in the press:
• The US, UK and Canada account for almost all of the 33,268 Jamaicans who have been deported in the past 15 years. The rising numbers reflect a political imperative to crack down on illegal immigrants and foreign criminals.
• Every month the so-called Con Air flight scoops dozens of Jamaican-born convicts who have completed time in US jails and dumps them in Kingston.
• Dozens more arrive monthly from Britain on British Airways and Air Jamaica flights from Gatwick and Heathrow.
• For Jamaica the influx is deeply unwelcome and a cause of the island's crime boom, the government claims.
• Gangs such as the Yardies, Yankees, Rude Boys and Thugs are dominated by returnees skilled in extortion and violence and with a network of overseas contacts, according to Rohan James, a beat policeman in west Kingston . "Most, if not all, are headed by
deportees."
• Traffickers recruit women in the run up to Christmas and the start of school term, when families are under most financial pressure, according to Hibiscus, a British-funded charity
ABOUT Facilitators for a Better Jamaica
Facilitators for a Better Jamaica is a Think Tank and lobbying group that specialises in being an
effective voice with a mandate to speak up for Jamaica and Jamaicans' interest in the United
Kingdom and internationally.
Facilitators for a Better Jamaica, P.O. Box 50075, London SE6 9BF
Tel: 07812952191 email: press@ffbj.org Website: www.ffbj.org
