Dear UK Border Agency,

In the last 12 months, to which countries have the UK Border Agency operated enforced removals by charter flights?

How many deportation charter flights have gone to each of these countries in this time period?

What has been the total cost of enforced removals by charter flight?

Questions regarding the following enforced removals by charter flight:

Enforced return to Ghana on 4th November 2011
Enforced return to Sri Lanka on 15th December 2011
Enforced return to Afghanistan on 19th December 2011
Enforced return to Pakistan on 6th February 2012
Enforced return to Ghana on 15th February 2012
Enforced return to Afghanistan 20th February 2012
Enforced return to Sri Lanka on 28th February 2012

For each flight, please answer the following questions:

What was the operational name of the flight?

How many Removal Directions were issued for the flight?

How many persons were removed? (Males, Females and Children).

How many persons were withdrawn from the flight, through last minute legal actions or fresh representation or withdrawn for any other reasons?

Was the practice of “reserves” in use during this operation?
By “reserves”, I refer to the practice described by the Home Affairs Select Committee report into 'Rules governing enforced removals from the UK' as such: “In order to maximise the occupancy of seats on charter flights, the Agency uses "reserves"—detainees who are taken to the airport in order to fill a vacant space should another detainee's removal be blocked at a late stage in the process”.
Disclosing this information is in the public interest, because the Committee report described this practice as 'inhumane' and recommended that it should stop.

Yours faithfully,

P. Miller