UK Border Agency defies MPs over deportation 'reserves' Keith Vaz described the deportation policy as inhuman. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA The UK Border Agency is under attack for ignoring demands from a cross-party Commons committee and the chief inspector of prisons to stop its "inhumane" treatment of some deportees. The agency was told last year to stop taking additional detainees to airports, in case other deportees were taken off flights after sudden court orders. In January last year, Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said it was "inhumane to uproot somebody on the expectation that they will be returned to their home country only to then return them at the end of the day to a detention centre in the UK - sometimes a different one from the one they left that morning." His committee published a report demanding that the practice stop. The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, also called for an end to the "objectionable and distressing" policy. But over half of the 40 deportation flights that have since left the UK involved the use of reserves. Of those 21 flights involving reserves, nine were to Pakistan, six to Afghanistan, five to Nigeria, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and one to Sri Lanka. Research group Corporate Watch, which obtained the figures through a freedom of information request, also discovered that UKBA has now institutionalised the practice by issuing detainees with letters telling them they may or may not be deported. The standard letter, introduced in June 2012 and seen by the Observer, informs its recipient that they are "one of a number of reserve travelers [sic] for this flight." It adds: "You will be taken to the departure airport and you should be prepared to travel as specified on your removal directions," the letter adds. However, if you do not travel, given your reserve status, you will be returned to an Immigration Removal Centre. Figures for how many reserves were used are only available for some of these flights. In February 2012, 11 reserves were used on a charter flight to Pakistan. In the same month, 14 reserves were used on a charter flight to Afghanistan. Vaz said: "The Select Committee was very clear in its recommendation that this inhumane practice must be stopped immediately. I am very disappointed that it is not only continuing, but has now been institutionalised. I will be writing to the chief executive of the Border Agency and asking him why the practice has not ceased. Corporate Watch and Stop Deportation, a UK-based campaign group focusing on charter flight deportations, are currently working on a joint report examining the various legal aspects of charter flight deportations. Philip Miller, from Stop Deportations claimed to have spoken to one reserve, who said he was loaded onto a coach with dozens of others at 9.30am from one of Heathrow airport's two detention centres. When they arrived at Stansted airport around 11am, everyone had to stay inside the coach, which was parked within site of the aircraft. The flight was not scheduled to leave until 3:30pm. "He was so afraid of returning to Sri Lanka that he was vomiting," said Miller, who spoke with the man on the phone. Along with six or seven others on the coach, he was not put on the flight. He was brought back from the airport to a different detention centre, Brook House near Gatwick airport. According to the man, who preferred to stay anonymous, the returned reserves were kept on board the coach until 10pm, before being processed and put in cells around midnight. An agency spokesperson said: "The use of reserves maximises the capacity of every charter flight, ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and reducing the amount of time people spend in detention. Where possible all legal representations are considered before the date of removal but we still receive last minute challenges that can cause delays. Detainees are kept informed throughout the process and reserves for a charter flight are advised of this 48 hours before departure. Any individual who is not removed on the charter is prioritised for removal either on scheduled services or on the next charter flight.