Detention

23 April 2012

Irrational, inhuman and degrading: detention of a mentally ill asylum-seeker was unlawful

http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/04/23/irrational-inhuman-and-degrading-detention-of-a-mentally-ill-asylum-seeker-was-unlawful/

The detention of a mentally ill person in an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment and false imprisonment, and was irrational, the High Court has ruled.
Mr Justice Singh heard a judicial review application by a Nigerian National against decisions to continue to detain him under the UK Borders Act 2007 and the conditions of that detention.
From August 2009, HA, an overstaying visitor and asylum seeker, was detained at various IRCs following his release from prison for a drug-related offence which triggered the automatic deportation provisions of the 2007 Act. His behaviour during detention became increasingly disturbed and strange. In January 2010, he was seen by a psychiatrist who recommended HA’s transfer to a mental hospital for assessment and treatment.
However, the transfer did not occur until July 2010. At the hospital, HA was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and given compulsory treatment. In November that year, he was returned to an IRC despite medical advice that it was likely to cause significant deterioration in his condition and that he could instead be safely discharged into the community. HA remained at an IRC until he was granted bail by the Court in December 2010 following medical evidence that HA’s condition had deteriorated following his return to the IRC.



16 April 2012

Routine neglect by UK government-contracted doctors brings torture victims fresh trauma

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/frank-arnold/routine-neglect-by-uk-government-contracted-doctors-brings-torture-victims

Last week’s HM Inspector of Prisons report on Harmondsworth Removal Centre contains this shocking observation about so-called ‘Rule 35’ medical reports “relating to detainees who had experienced torture or were unfit to detain.” They “were of poor quality, often providing no clinical judgement.”

Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules ? (a statutory instrument) requires doctors working in detention centres to inform the detaining authority of persons about whom they have concerns that they may have been victims of torture before entering the UK. On receipt of such evidence, the responsible official is required to consider this information and release the person.

As a doctor I have examined at least 400 people during or after detention who say they were tortured in places such as Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, or Iran before fleeing to the UK to request asylum. The vast majority displayed scars from cigarette burns or branding with hot irons, evidence of severe beatings, electrocution, stabbing or gun shot wounds. Most had blatant post-traumatic stress disorder and/or depression that was exacerbated or re-ignited by detention. While examining them, I have had occasion to read their rule 35 reports and detention medical notes. They confirm HMIP’s findings that these reports were generally “of poor quality, often providing no clinical judgement.”

27 February 2012

The UKBA and child asylum seeker

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/21/ukba-and-child-asylum-seekers?newsfeed=true

The compensation payment to child asylum seekers who were unlawfully detained (Report, 18 February) is a symptom of a deeper problem affecting, at any one time, thousands of young asylum seekers claiming to be children who arrive in the UK. The current system for assessing the age of these vulnerable young people unable to prove their age has led to an unprecedented level of legal challenge through judicial review in the high court. However, it is also true to say that there is no "magic bullet" for assessing age correctly.

Failing refugees

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/27/failing-refugees-darfur-sudan?newsfeed=true

The UN is right to criticise the UK's detention of vulnerable asylum seekers (Report, 23 February). Every day Waging Peace deals with people who have fled genocidal attacks, horrific abuse and torture only to be treated like criminals and detained simply for seeking a safe haven. Even groups that asylum guidelines clearly allow to stay in the country are detained. We regularly deal with Darfuris who, having escaped brutal persecution in Sudan, are then locked up by the UK Border Agency. Most are eventually released and granted status, but only after persistent work by us and other similar charities. And by then the damage has already been done. It is not uncommon for those asylum seekers who have suffered the very worst torture and abuse to feel suicidal when faced with detention. It is a shocking indictment of the current system that many would rather return home and risk death than face the current system. The UK must uphold its commitment to protect those who seek refuge from violence and persecution, rather than subject them to abuse all over again.

23 February 2012

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/asylum_seekers_detained_too_long_before_removal_1_4280163

More than a third of asylum seekers detained while their claims are being assessed are held for longer than three months before being removed, inspectors have said.
The detained fast-track (DFT) scheme, used when officials deem that an individual’s circumstances are uncomplicated and a decision can be made quickly while they are held in detention, was not working as quickly as intended, a review found.    Mr Vine, whose reviews of the UKBA’s work has led to Home Secretary Theresa May splitting off the work of the Border Force into a separate agency from next month, said he was concerned that despite the cost and impact of the fast track scheme, there was no analysis of it.

23 February 2012

UK detention of torture victims 'inhumane'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/23/uk-detention-torture-victims-inhumane

UN refugee chief says fast-track deportation system can see rape and trafficking victims detained as soon as they claim asylum.

The detention of victims of torture and trafficking by the UK Border Agency pending their "fast-track" deportation from Britain has been strongly criticised by the UN.

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees said inadequate screening processes meant that rape victims and torture survivors could find themselves being led off to a detention centre, sometimes in handcuffs, as soon as they arrived in Britain to claim asylum.

The high-level criticism comes as John Vine, the independent inspector of the UKBA, confirmed that there was "too great a risk" of survivors of torture or trafficking being immediately detained for their fast-track deportation because of the way initial screening is carried out.

Roland Shilling, UNHCR representative to Britain, said the UK set a worryingly negative precedent by detaining immigrants more than any other country in Europe: "Asylum-seekers who come to the UK have often experienced extremely distressing circumstances, which have caused them to flee.

17 February 2012

£2m paid out over child asylum seekers illegally detained as adults

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/17/home-office-payout-child-asylum-seekers?newsfeed=true

The Home Office has paid compensation of more than £1m, plus £1m costs, in a case involving 40 child asylum seekers who were wrongly detained as adults, the Guardian can reveal.
It is thought to be the first case of its kind and the largest immigration detention payout for a single case.
Government officials accepted that the policy was unlawful and changed it as a result of this case. However, data passed to the Guardian shows that children are still being detained.
The case that resulted in the £2m payout involved girls and boys, including 25 aged 14 to 16, from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Eritrea, Uganda, Somalia and China.
The youngest was a 14-year-old girl from Sri Lanka. Some were survivors of torture in their home countries and some of the girls were survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Some of the children were locked up for more than a month.  One boy was moved around the country and held in seven different adult centres including Dover, Campsfield and Harmondsworth during his 74-day detention. "I cried myself to sleep every night," he said. "Nobody explained what was going on and I never knew what was going to happen to me when I woke up the next morning."   Legal cases involved 40 youngsters who were locked up in adult units under Home Office policy deemed to be unlawful.

13 February 2012

Through their eyes: Impact investigtes the plight of young refugees

http://www.impactnottingham.com/2012/02/through-their-eyes-impact-investigates-the-plight-of-young-refugees/

In 2002, the Ay family, Kurdish asylum seekers from Turkey, were imprisoned in a British detention centre for 13 months. Four of the detainees were children whose ages ranged from 7 to 13 and in January 2012, the Ay’s were compensated for their incarceration with a six-figure payout. This story prompts us to question how such an injustice was executed and to discover how exactly young asylum seekers and refugees are received in the UK.
An asylum seeker is defined as a person who has applied for sanctuary and is unable to return to their home country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution [...] for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,” according to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Once in the new country, asylum seekers can be granted refugee status if they are able to prove that their need for protection is in line with international law.

It is estimated that there are around 1,055 asylum seekers in Nottingham, accounting for less than 0.4% of the city’s population, with many hailing from Afghanistan, Kosovo and Eritrea. Asylum seekers and refugees have unfortunately been the victims of yellow journalism, typified by the media sensationalising and deploring the flux of immigrants into the UK, and publications like The Daily Mail announcing, “Foreign workers take yet more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges and youth unemployment hits one million.” (17th November 2011).




3 February 2012

Fears over firm’s role in asylum seekers’ housing

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/your-letters/fears_over_firm_s_role_in_asylum_seekers_housing_1_4206704

From: John Grayson, Independent Researcher, AdEd Knowledge Company and Sheffield Hallam University, and a further 25 academics, researchers and university teachers.

AS researchers and university teachers in the fields of housing and immigration in the Yorkshire region, we oppose the plans of the the UK Border Agency to allocate contracts managing asylum seeker housing to security companies who manage immigration detention centres, and forcible deportations in the UK. In Yorkshire, the preferred bidder is G4S and contracts could be signed by the end of February. G4S has no experience of housing management.


20 December 2011

EU states need not detain migrants, says JRS report

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19531

Detaining migrants is unnecessary because more humane and less costly non-custodial alternatives exist, according to the latest JRS report: From Deprivation to Liberty

The report is based on in-depth interviews with 25 migrants participating in alternatives-to-detention programmes in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It finds that although community-based measures are clearly a step in the right direction, unless they are accompanied by appropriate legal, social and other support, migrants can be forced into destitution.

“Community-based measures are more humane than detention, so long as migrants are given adequate support”, said Philip Amaral, JRS Europe Advocacy Officer and author of the report.

In light of these findings, JRS urges EU member states to replicate existing alternatives-to-detention that ensure:

· The provision of suitable housing, basic social support and quality legal assistance;

· Individualised and holistic psychosocial support, including the provision of regular, up-to-date information;

· Definitive resolution of asylum and immigration cases in a timely and fair manner.

Community-based alternatives are five times cheaper than migration detention, which cost states like Belgium and the UK as much as 200 Euro per day. In times of economic crisis, EU states should implement cost-effective alternatives to detention, rather than waste precious resources on a harmful and ineffective system.

11 December 2011

Immigrants in Britain may be detained indefinitely in removal detention centres.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/bridget-walker/bail-for-immigrants-presumption-of-liberty

Some are held for months, others for years. Bridget Walker welcomes the government's bail guidance for judges, but asks whether it will make any difference

About the author
Bridget Walker has a background in international development with INGOs such as Christian Aid and Oxfam GB. Before she retired in 2006 she worked for Responding to Conflict (RTC) in Birmingham, UK.

The UK immigration detention estate is one of the largest in Europe and every year more than 25,000 people are detained in immigration removal centres. The length of detention is indefinite – they may be detained weeks, months or years as they wait for their cases to be processed. Immigration detainees have the right to apply for bail to obtain liberty. This is precious, even though conditional- with reporting requirements and no right to work or study. Concern about many aspects of the bail system experienced particularly by detainees at Campsfield House Immigration Removal centre near Oxford

7 December 2011

Disgraceful treatment’ of pregnant asylum-seekers

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/112857

Refugee campaigners today demanded an end to the “appalling” detention of pregnant asylum-seekers after Britain’s prison watchdog expressed concern over their treatment at the infamous Yarl’s Wood centre.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said there were “too many pregnant women, who should only have been held in exceptional circumstances, were detained in the centre.”

28 November 2011

Fight goes on to secure detention centre money

http://www.larnetimes.co.uk/news/local/fight_goes_on_to_secure_detention_centre_money_1_3276147

REVENUE raised through the use of part of the Hope Street police station as a detention centre for illegal immigrants must come back into Larne to boost the local PSNI budget, according to Larne District Policing Partnership.
Larne House opened in July this year and uses the former police custody suite as accommodation for a maximum of 21 illegal immigrants for up to seven days in order to facilitate their removal from the UK.
The UK Border Agency centre is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and holds foreign nationals caught working illegally, outstaying their visa as well as failed asylum seekers being removed from the UK.

3 November 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/03/hugh-muir-diary?newsfeed=true

Things are bad. Really bad. Especially for asylum seekers requiring medical care in detention.

Such was the plight of the man called BA who was being held at Harmondsworth. Very sick BA was, and almost everyone accepted that he needed to be in hospital. We now know from a high court judgment that senior managers at the UK Border Agency disagreed. But he is close to death, they were told. Yikes. We had better get the paperwork in order, said an agency official, "because there will be significant press interest if he does subsequently pass away. We have made sure that healthcare are keeping good and accurate details of his care and this record will be available should he die." BA did reach hospital, but against medical advice, he was soon sent back to Harmondsworth. He has since been released. At worst, said the judge, there was "a callous indifference to BA's plight". Quite.



Friday, October 21, 2011

Port Talbot family's heartbreak at deportation go-ahead

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Port-Talbot-family-s-heartbreak-deportation-ahead/story-13620485-detail/story.html

A HEARTBROKEN Port Talbot woman whose mother and brother have lost their fight to stay in the country says she is devastated that their family has been broken apart.
Failed asylum seekers Nina Malshiev, 60, and her son Mikhail, 29, were taken to Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire earlier this week.
It is believed that they were due to fly back to Uzbekistan at lunchtime today.
Helena Davies has been campaigning to keep her mother and brother in the country for the past few years.
They have been living in Port Talbot with her for the past seven years on Sunny Road.
Helena is legally allowed to stay in this country through marriage.