UK Border Agency Sends Immigrants Home on Charter Jets

Posted by: Prince Jets  Jun 18, 2014 02:06 PM

How do you deport illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers effectively? For the UK Border Agency the answer is to hire charter jets to fly them back to their homeland. While it makes a lot of sense, in this case they are getting some flak for just how much it is costing because at times some of the flights leave the UK with only about 10% of the seats occupied.

As the planes take off with row after row of empty seats they leave behind hundreds who exploit legal loopholes to be able to stay in the country longer. The total cost of air deportations – which includes tickets for regular commercial flights – is now 133 million pounds, which is a 40 percent increase in the last five years.

The empty planes are largely a result of people facing deportation in the UK putting in a successful last hour appeal which allows them to remain in the UK. Its law in the UK that someone being deported be given 72 hours notice, leaving plenty of time for them to put in a successful appeal.

International agreements in place with other countries and the UK also make it so only a limited number of people can be deported to a given country at a single time, further complicating matters.

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