Hold it! - Nelson demands talks over UK plan to send prisoners home
Published:Tuesday | November 9, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
A diplomatic row appears to be taking shape between Jamaica and the United Kingdom (UK) over plans by the British government to send home close to 1,000 Jamaicans convicted in that country.
A report out of Great Britain suggests that UK Prime Minister David Cameron wants to send home prisoners of Jamaican and other nationalities, even if they do not consent to being deported.
However, noting that this would run contrary to the existing arrangements between the two nations, the Jamaican Government has signalled that it would not accept any plans by the UK to unilaterally change the deportee arrangements to suit its purpose.
"We have an agreement with the United Kingdom and we stand by that agreement," declared Jamaica's National Security Minister Dwight Nelson yesterday.
Under an early removal scheme, Jamaican prisoners in Britain are currently shipped out of that country under prisoner-transfer agreements between the two states.
This facilitates the release of prisoners up to 270 days early if they (the prisoners) agree to be deported immediately, or after their sentences have ended.
Nelson's comments came after a report in yesterday's edition of the UK's Daily Mail that Cameron is planning to send home thousands of foreign prisoners who would complete their sentences in their own countries.
The national security minister was quick to point out that there is a major legal impediment to this.
"Jamaican laws do not permit people who commit offences within other jurisdictions to serve their sentences in this country," Nelson asserted.
With the 942 nationals behind bars, Jamaica tops the list of countries with convicts in British jails.
Nelson appears to be peeved that Cameron reportedly plans to forge ahead with his initiative without discussing it with the countries involved.
"If they (the UK) envisage any changes, let us talk about it," he declared.
The minister said he was not privy to any information in relation to changes to the arrangements regarding deportees prior to reading the Daily Mail article.
The report stated that Cameron planned to raise the issue this week with the Chinese government, which has fewer than 400 of its nationals locked up in British cells.
The Daily Mail report suggested that Cameron's initiative could be stonewalled because convicts, supported by lawyers, might attempt to use human-rights laws to stay in the UK.
However, there are indications that the Cameron administration is moving to counteract such a ploy.
The report stated that British officials would soon be coming down hard on foreigners found guilty of the most minor of offences, such as those involving official documents, including possessing a fake passport and destroying a passport. Persons found guilty of these offences might be given 'conditional cautions' rather than jail sentences, barring them from returning to the UK.
This means they would be thrown out of the country so they do not end up in prison there in the first place.
The report quoted a coalition government source saying: "The prime minister is determined to do everything in his power to get as many sent back to their countries of origin as possible.
"Clearly, human rights need to be taken into account so that we are not sending prisoners back if they are going to be tortured or killed.
"The prime minister knows this is not going to be easy, but he will be speaking to his opposite numbers in various countries and believes this will have an important effect."