Delroy Edwards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Delroy Edwards (1959-November 12, 2005) was a Jamaican-born refugee who, after being refused political asylum in Great Britain, was killed by Yardie gang members within several days following his return. His refusal for asylum and later deporation from the country has since been publicly criticised and has called into question some of the immigration polices by the Home Office and the Immigration Adjudicator.

A longtime resident of Kingston, Edwards was frequently harassed during the 1990s after refusing to partipate in criminal activities of a Yardie street gang affiliated with the People's National Party (PNP) resulting in suffering several attempts on his life, specifically an arson attack which killed two of his daughters as well as suffering serious gunshout wounds in 1995 and 1998. In 2001, he decided to flee to Great Britain formerly requesting political asylum. While residing in London, he became engaged to Jane Lowe and had a daughter, Taneika, with her before his deportation. Although Lowe attempted to provide an adequate legal representation for Edwards, his frequent transfer between three immigration centres as well as delayed responses from immigration officials made a solicitors attempt to appeal his deportation difficult.

Despite his claims of persecution (including an incident in which he been warned by an unidentified individual that he would be killed if he returned to Jamaica) as well as demonstrating his previous wounds he had received in his shoulders and hands, he was declared an economic migrant by the Home Office and put on a flight to Jamaica after being held for eight days at the Campsfield detention centre in Oxfordshire, Harmondsworth near Heathrow and Gosport, Hampshire.

Although immediately going into hiding upon his arrival in Kingston, he was killed on the doorstep of an East Kingston house he had been staying at only nine days after his return.