Fears of worsening security at UK immigration deportation centres, prison commissioner warns | Immigration & Asylum

The chief inspector of prisons has warned that security at immigration detention centers across the country is deteriorating and that the government's use of them is potentially traumatising vulnerable immigrants.

Charlie Taylor said the deterioration in safety at facilities such as Harmondsworth and Yalls Wood was a cause for great concern.

An Observer analysis of official inspections of immigration removal centres (IRCs) has found that all eight of the UK’s major sites received key and priority concerns from inspectors, a term used to describe the most serious failings that must be urgently addressed. Some sites had more than a dozen serious concerns raised by inspectors, many of which were not addressed.

IRCs are administrative detention centers where immigrants scheduled for deportation are held before they leave the country. However, these centers are increasingly being used to house people being released back into the community, sometimes for months or even years.

Taylor said: “Depriving someone of their liberty is a very serious act, and people should only be held in IRCs when they are at imminent risk of being deported from the country. Every time we inspect IRCs, we find that people are held for much longer than expected. Some are held for years, and in Harmondsworth, almost two-thirds have been released. This raises the question of why people are held in detention in the first place, when it costs taxpayers so much and can cause additional trauma to already vulnerable people.

Last month, a report from the superintendent of prisons at Harmondsworth IRC described the conditions there as absolutely shocking and the worst in the country. Nearly half of the 500 inmates reported feeling suicidal, and there were many suicide attempts at the site, including one during a two-week supervision period.

The building itself is old and worn, and some inmates are so cold that they sit in their cells with their coats on. Violence at the center has doubled in the past seven years. Inmates who complain about overcrowded dormitories are punished with solitary confinement until they agree to share a room.

There have also been reports of staff using excessive force and physical violence, one of whom was fired last year after being accused of assaulting, harassing and racially abusing an inmate.

Taylor said: What we saw at Harmondsworth was the worst I've ever seen in an immigration detention center.

Harmondsworth is not alone. Last year, HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that Yarls Wood in Bedfordshire had deteriorated dramatically since its last pre-Covid inspection, with more detainees, more protests and more apparent frustration, fuelled by longer cumulative detention periods without sufficient progress on immigration cases.

Inspectors recorded that eight people had been held in the facility for more than a year, and that others who were due to be released into the community were held for months while awaiting final approval or suitable accommodations.

Nearly half of the men and about a quarter of the women in the facility reported feeling unsafe with inspectors, and overcrowding and a lack of open space meant inmates spent much of their free time huddled together in the hallways.

Skip newsletter promotions

Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture from top Observer writers.

Privacy Notice: Our newsletter may contain information about charities, online advertising, and externally funded content. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

After the newsletter promotion

At Brook House IRC, inspectors found that some detainees had been held for more than two and a half years and that high levels of force were being used against detainees. The conditions at the site were the subject of a government inquiry last year, which identified a toxic culture and credible evidence of several potential human rights violations involving torture and inhumane treatment.

A 2022 inspection of the Derwentside IRC in County Durham found inexperienced managers failed to properly supervise the use of force to ensure it was reasonable, proportionate and safe.

One of the centres, HMP Morton Hall in Lincolnshire, has now been converted into a prison for foreign nationals.

A Home Office spokesperson said: We take the health, wellbeing and safety of the people we care for very seriously and it is important that detention and removal are carried out with dignity and respect. We are concerned about some of the findings in the previous report and recognise that standards across our immigration detention facilities need to improve. We are committed to taking robust action in light of these inspection findings.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.BizWebsite: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos