Anti-deportation campaigners gathered in Parliament Square, London, on Saturday, 17th October, to protest against the first (failed) mass deportation flight to Baghdad.

The demonstration, called by the Stop Deportation Network and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugee, saw protesters holding banners and placards and shouting slogans against forcible deportation in general and to a war zone like Iraq in particular.

Speakers, including veteran anti-war protester Brian Haw, denounced the British government's hypocrisy and its role in creating the Iraqi refugee crisis through its involvement in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Two deportees, who had been returned to Brook House detention centre after the flight was turned away at Baghdad airport by the Iraqi authorities, also spoke on the phone and told protesters, via a megaphone, of the violence and mistreatment they had experienced during the deportation at the hands of immigration officers and private security guards.