Immigration centre detainees ‘held too long’
DETAINEES are being held at an immigration removal centre for as long as two years with insufficient facilities and unsatisfactory mental healthcare, a report has found.
Conditions at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), Gatwick Airport, have improved but a number of concerns remained.
The findings were published by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Brook House.
Improvements were noted from the ‘fundamentally unsafe’ environment of bullying, violence and drugs found by HM Inspector of Prisons in 2010.
But the physical limitations of a building designed for short-term detentions is an issue at the 426-capacity centre.
The report stated: “We are pleased to acknowledge the huge efforts made to improve the environment. This does not prevent us from raising again the unsuitability of the centre for long-term residency.”
Concerns over mental healthcare provision were raised with 33 men at risk of self-harm requiring a constant watch.
The report stated: “The centre does not have the facilities to treat men with mental health or behavioural problems. We are concerned that, occasionally, men arrive who cannot be cared for in a satisfactory manner as there are no suitable in-house services. We continually press for these men to be moved to more suitable conditions.”
Despite being classified as a removal centre, just 57 per cent of detainees are deported or repatriated, with the remainder transferred elsewhere or released.
It also criticised a practice of taking detainees to the airport as standbys for chartered deportation flights.
It stated: “Whilst we acknowledge that detainees are now told if they have ‘standby’ places for a charter flight, the Board does not accept that this it is fair, decent and humane to expect a man to be subject to such uncertainties.”
In summary the report stated: “The centre appears more settled and as a result, we believe, offers safer accommodation than in previous years. The management commitment to providing a decent environment for detainees and staff continues and there are high expectations of staff. The limitations of space cannot be overcome but G4S have tried to utilise the buildings to the maximum to create opportunities for activities to occupy the detainees held within the centre. Improvements continue to be made at the time of report writing.”
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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