Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any of those people deported on the charter flight to (a) Zimbabwe on 21 July 2021 and (b) Jamaica on 11 August 2021 or any of those who were scheduled for deportation on those two flights but were not placed on the planes on the day were under the age of 12 when they came to the UK.

The Government is fully committed to discharging the obligation under the UK Borders Act 2007, which is that a non-British citizen convicted of an offence in the UK and sentenced to 12 months or more imprisonment and to whom an exception does not apply is deported from the UK. A person’s age upon arrival to the UK or their nationality are not exceptions to automatic deportation, but may be relevant factors in considering whether an exception applies.

The length of time a person has lived in the UK, as well as the strength of their social, cultural and family ties to the UK, are factors considered when determining any Article 8 claim and whether there are very compelling circumstances which satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Rules. A foreign criminal is given the opportunity to make submissions as to why they should not be deported and all claims raised are fully considered and decided upon before deportation, including, where applicable, via the Courts.

We only return those with no legal right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders. Individuals are only returned to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so.

Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe and since January 2019 we have removed 8,441 foreign criminals.