The United Kingdom has deported 44 asylum seekers from Nigeria and Ghana, making the highest number ever removed on a single flight.
This report is according to the UK Guardian.
The Home Office told the UK Guardian on Friday that the deportations were part of a “major surge” in immigration enforcement and returns.
Since Starmer came to power in July, 3,600 people have been returned to various countries, including about 200 to Brazil and 46 to Vietnam and Timor-Leste.
There are also regular deportation flights to Albania, Lithuania and Romania.
However, deportation flights to Nigeria and Ghana are relatively rare, with just four recorded since 2020.
One of the Nigerian deportees in the latest removal said he was trafficked.
“I told the Home Office I was a victim of trafficking. They rejected my claim,” he told the Guardian.
Another said he had been in the UK for 15 years as an asylum seeker and had no criminal record but the Home Office refused his claim.
In August, Nigeria reportedly signed a deportation agreement with the UK, which would see the arrival of illegal immigrants in the country.
