TUI Airways has been responsible for at least 21 deportation flights since January 2021. 

But enough is enough — please join the national day of action against Britain’s number one deportation airline on August 28.

Simultaneous demos and marches are planned in east and north London, Liverpool, Brighton, Cambridge, Sheffield and Nottingham.

These have been organised by a range of groups in each location and my organisations — Barac UK and Black and Asian Lawyers for Justice — are involved in organising and speaking at the east London demo at TUI, Westfield Stratford.

Join us at 2pm, bring your handmade placards and come and make some noise to send a strong message to TUI that we see them, we are standing up to and exposing them and holding them to account for their complicity  in deportations. 

It is of great concern that TUI is responsible for a disproportionately high number of deportation charter flights and seemingly sees nothing wrong in supporting and enabling a racist immigration policy which tears families apart and exiles young people to countries they have no recollection of, as they left as babies. 

We call on TUI to seriously consider the human rights effects of its actions and the hypocrisy of organising holidays abroad in the very countries it helps the Home Office deport to. 

TUI states its commitment  to equality as follows:

“…we do not accept any discrimination on the grounds of national or ethnic origin, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, family status, religion, belief, disability, age or social origin.

“With the TUI Global Employment statement we have committed ourselves clearly: we must not discriminate in recruitment and employment practices. 

“Decisions about hiring, salary, benefits, training opportunities, work assignments, advancement, discipline and termination must be based solely on objective reasons, rather than on the basis of personal characteristics, such as race or ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation. 

“Thus, in line with ILO Convention 111, we aim to avoid all forms of discrimination. TUI is signatory of the UN Global Compact.”

I note that it says above that it does not discriminate in work assignments. But if deporting black and brown people en masse and supporting racist immigration policies is how it demonstrates its commitment to equality, then TUI, you have a problem. 

As for it being a signatory of the UN Global Compact — this is hypocrisy at its finest.

I happen to have been a speaker at the last UN Global Compact  on migration where I spoke about these mass deportations. 

As a signatory, TUI has signed up to all the principles including:

Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

TUI breaches both of these principles each time it flies a deportation flight so the UN should be removing it as a signatory unless it gives a commitment to cease actions as Home Office accomplices in the inhumane removal of people from the UK who often face grave danger and sadly even death when deported, plus the human rights of the loved ones including their children they are taken from.

TUI  cannot sign up to human rights declarations as a tick-box exercise, it has to walk the talk — and mean it.

These demonstrations are a call to TUI to do the right thing and put humanity before profit.

Find your local TUI action below #TUIDropDeportations https://t.co/zknk398Bx5.