Headlines:
| Only non violent deportees on chartered flights – PM |
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| Wednesday, 18 June 2008 | |
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Prime Minister Bruce Golding has confirmed claims made by
the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) that scores of deportees have
arrived in Jamaica
in recent weeks via chartered flights. The Opposition spokesman on National Security Dr. Peter Phillips raised the matter in Parliament last week asking whether changes had been made to the deportation arrangements. Dr. Phillips said the PNP administration had limited the deportation of Jamaicans from the United Kingdom to commercial flights in order to better manage the numbers coming into the country. However, as he sought to clarify the issue in Gordon House on Tuesday, Mr. Golding said the administration had allowed several chartered flights following discussions with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "When I investigated, a lot of them were young women with children back in Jamaica not under any proper care and guidance. These are young women who have completed their sentence so they are in the detention centre on extended sentence. In discussions between myself and Prime Minister Brown I said ok, we will allow the charters but one a month and it must not include any violent offenders," said Mr. Golding. |