Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they sought legal advice in respect of the Zimbabwean nationals due to be deported on 21 July in relation to (1) non-refoulement, and (2) the risk posed to individuals being deported from the UK to Zimbabwe by the Emergency Travel Document process; and if so, what steps they took as a result.

FNOs selected for deportation have either been convicted of an offence that has caused serious harm, are a persistent offender, or represent a threat to national security.

Deportation of foreign criminals is subject to several exceptions, including where doing so would be a breach of a person’s European Convention on Human Rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. All those that were deported on the flight were provided with the opportunity to raise claims, including asylum and human rights claims, prior to their deportation and were given a minimum of 5 working days’ notice of their removal directions, in accordance with published policy.

Re-documentation interviews with officials from countries of return are a standard part of Home Office process where an interview is required by the receiving country to enable the confirmation of nationality and identity, in order for a travel document to be produced.

All of those that were returned were free of any legal barriers. Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and since January 2019 we have returned 7,985 foreign criminals from the UK.