The majority of my working day is spent designing, developing and managing projects, to support Jamaican nationals returned from the UK settle back into a productive and fulfilling life in Jamaica. Most of this is informed by listening to Jamaicans the majority of whom tell me they need practical support such as help in getting documentation, finding work and securing accommodation. Nearly all tell me that once home they want the chance to make a new beginning, to be accepted within their communities and to move forward without the stigma of deportation.
‘You feel it. You feel it in every aspect. As a person that was deported, we see how you talk to us, we see how you deal with us and we see that it is only because I am deported’. Glen Powell
‘I would like to see the stigma of deportation removed from our society because it’s killing us, the stigma is making it harder for me to get a job’. Brian Lynch
It is stigma and a lack of support that led Glen Powell and others to establish the National Organisation of Deported Migrants (NODM). NODM is supported by the British High Commission to provide practical and psychological support to those returned from the UK. We are assisting NODM change public perception and dialogue around the issue of deportation and to address the practical needs of those returned.
Support and advice is needed long before people step off the plane. Prior to deportation many people feel angry and frustrated, many feel nervous and anxious about the future. In recognition of this I recently chaired a multi-agency discussion on how to better disseminate and distribute information on support available in Jamaica within the UK prisons and removal centres.
Thanks to the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, the National Offender Management Services and Detention Operations we are working hard to ensure each and every Jamaican awaiting removal or deportation is aware of support services available on the ground in Jamaica. We will also be introducing a free phone help line that will enable Jamaicans talk to Jamaicans about their fears of returning, the concerns they have, and the support they can expect on arrival.
As Glen Powell, President of NODM recently said ‘deportation is a second chance… before we got into trouble, we had dreams. We had dreams and we were reaching for those dreams. Something happened to knock us off that path. We just have to pick it up and go again’.