judge ruling prior to the plane’s departure that the individual must not be deported because the Home
Office may have failed to consider all the evidence he had provided on his immigration case.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said it was a “terrible case” which highlighted the Home Office’s
“disregard for the rule of law”.
The man, who did not want to be identified, is married to a British woman who is currently unwell, and also
has a seriously ill mother-in-law who he has been caring for. The High Court judge said in his ruling that the
Home Office may have failed to “adequately address” evidence of the man’s relationship with his wife,
whom he married in 2017.
Rehana Popal, a human rights barrister who was representing the man, told The Independent that removing
him was a breach of his human rights and showed a “lack of regard” for the rule of law by the Home Office,
as well as being a “total waste” of taxpayers’ money.
She added: “If the courts say you shouldn’t remove this person, you should not remove that person – end of.
The fact that the Home Office continues to act like this suggests they almost see themselves as being above
the law, and that’s concerning. And the costs of this is just ridiculous – both breaching of the court order
and then making arrangements to fly him back to the UK in 24 hours.”
Ms Popal said that while it was fortunate that her client didn’t have an asylum claim and therefore wasn’t in
danger on return to Pakistan, the blunder in another case could have meant “life or death”.
“There’s a real concern that if this was an asylum or protection appeal, this would have been the Home
Office returning somebody to the authority which they’re seeking asylum from,” she said. “The UK has
good diplomatic relations with a country like Pakistan, but imagine if he’d been returned to Iran. We may
never see this person again. The potential risk to cause serious harm has serious consequences. The Home
Office has a lot of power and making mistakes like this has consequences.”
It comes amid mounting concern about the Home Office’s deportation policy. Last week, lawyers warned
that among those removed on the charter flight to Pakistan were suspected victims of modern slavery,
trafficking and torture who had not had the chance to properly fight their case due to poor legal advice. A
separate flight deporting 17 Jamaican nationals set off two weeks before. Twenty-five others scheduled to be
on board avoided removal after courts ruled that they had not been granted adequate access to legal advice –
breaking Home Office policy.
The Times reported last week that allegations against home secretary Priti Patel centre on bullying civil
servants because they would not breach the court order.
Another charter flight left a week later carrying asylum seekers to Europe under the Dublin Convention –
but at least 16 individuals were taken off the flight after it emerged the Home Office had failed to act on
indicators that they had been victims of torture and exploitation.
Rudy Schulkind, research and policy coordinator at Bail for Immigration Detainees, said the latest blunder
was “yet more evidence of a department that is out of control”. He continued: “Frequently we see the
Home Office being overzealous in its efforts to ensure that as many people as possible are removed on
scheduled charter flights. This practice inevitably risks forcibly removing people to situations where their
human rights will be breached and life may be in danger. Despite being put through an incredibly damaging
and distressing ordeal, this man is one of the lucky ones. Many people in immigration detention simply do
not have access to the high quality legal representation needed to challenge Home Office decisions that are
frequently incorrect.”
Bella Sankey, director at Detention Action, said: “The government’s mass expulsions mean those with
strong claims to remain in the UK, victims of modern slavery as well as those with Windrush links are being