…. ZITA HOLBOURNE

Petition update · Together we stopped 37 people being deported but the children of the 13 taken are heartbroken · Change.org

written: 2 DEC 2020 —

Dear Supporters

I have mixed emotions today. We are really happy that 37 of the 50 people given a removal notice to Jamaica were not deported. Only 13 were taken. But that's still 13 too many, it's still 13 families ripped apart, most with children who are distraught, traumatised and confused.

I spoke last night with a partner of one of those being deported. She had the unbearably painful experience of telling her children that their daddy was being deported and they had to say good on the phone. Her ten year old son asked her as he was half Jamaican was he going to be deported too.

This evening I spoke to their ten year old and five year old children and it broke my heart. Their five year old daughter said that thing she would miss the most is watching movies and eating popcorn with her dad and that it is making her sad. Their ten year old son told me that what he will miss is seeing his dad and hugging him. He told me that he feels really angry about it and he would like to speak to the person who made the decision to deport his dad and he would like to tell them that they are breaking families apart.