Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith says she has been assured by the authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) that no member of the Windrush generation will be among the next group of deportees who are scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Wednesday.

Johnson Smith said only those who have taken COVID-19 tests less than 48 hours prior to the departure of the flight and tested negative will be allowed on board, and all protocols will be maintained leading up to and during the flight.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has given its approval for the flight under the usual conditions, which include the stipulation that all the human rights of Jamaicans being deported are respected, Johnson Smith told The Gleaner last Saturday. This, she explained, means that they must be allowed to exercise, and exhaust, all their legal remedies before being deported.

“That has always been our position and remains our position, and assurances are that those will be respected,” she said.

Responding to public outcry against the deportation of some persons who left Jamaica as babies and therefore do not know the country or have any tangible links with it, the foreign affairs minister said these are not sufficient grounds on which to challenge the deportations.

“I know that it is an emotional time for people and they raise these issues, but there is an international framework that requires us, and in fact, out Constitution requires us, to (cooperate). Our citizens have certain rights, and one of them must be that their citizenship is recognised and that they are allowed into Jamaica; and so it is an unfortunate situation that occurs when families are separated, but these are the circumstance under which we operate at this time,” Johnson Smith explained.

The number of deportees scheduled to arrive on Wednesday has not yet been finalised. It will be the second flight in three months and the fourth since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.