Crossword Genius

People sent packing, being tied up, put on river (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deportees

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'people' is the definition.
(deportee is a kind of person)

'tied up put on river' is the wordplay.
'tied' becomes 'roped' (roping is a kind of tying).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'put on river' becomes 'tees' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'roped' written backwards gives 'depor'.
'depor'+'tees'='DEPORTEES'

'sent packing being' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deportees that I've seen before include "People leaving land" , "Outcasts" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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