Prince William, Kate Middleton's Caribbean Tour Delays Deportation Flight Carrying Convicted Criminals?

Prince William and Kate Middleton are set to visit Jamaica next month, but their trip might delay a deportation flight carrying convicted criminals to the country.

The royals will visit the country at the beginning of a Caribbean tour, which was launched after Barbados opted to become a republic in 2021, reported Daily Mail.

The Voice reported that delaying a deportation flight to Jamaica until after the couple have departed might be considered. A spokesman for the Home Office didn't reveal when the next deportation flight is scheduled. The spokesman said that they don't comment on "operational matters," but the person insisted that "removal flights do not operate on a fixed pattern and to suggest otherwise is misleading."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize follows three controversial deportation charter flights to Jamaica in 2021. The last flight was condemned as a disaster when the plane left with only four deportees after all others had been taken off the flight by the courts. Such flights could cause tensions between Jamaica and London. The island's top diplomat in the UK commented that he was "deeply concerned" about the November 2021 deportation flight which planned to send back convicts who came to the UK as children.

The flights carrying convicts to Jamaica restarted in February 2019 after a hiatus of two years. It followed the 2018 Windrush scandal when it emerged that many people whose parents had come to the UK from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1971 had been wrongly threatened with deportation. They were also accused of being in the UK illegally. Since then flights full of convicted criminals have flown every February except last February because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, following legal battles only seven people were deported in August even though 90 were originally marked for the flight. Last November, another flight departed carrying just four criminals. About 33 people did not board as planned after last-minute legal challenges. In 2021, Jamaica's opposition leader and equalities campaigners called for Queen Elizabeth to be removed as the country's head of state.

To mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, William and Kate will embark on a 12-day tour of Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize. The tour is said to be in a bid to “strengthen” relations between the countries in the Commonwealth and the British monarchy.