BID's new summary of detainees' experiences with legal advice released, UNCHR issues detailed detention guidelines and calls on states to make better use of alternatives
Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) have released a summary of key findings from the results of four surveys to find out what detainees' experiences are with seeking and receiving immigration legal advice while in detention in the UK.
BID works in all removal centres across the UK immigration detention estate and has conducted telephone surveys every six months since November 2010.
From the May 2012 survey, BID says that some key findings are:
• 69% of those we spoke to had an immigration solicitor at the time of the survey, and of these 75% had a legal aid solicitor.
• 14% of the detainees we spoke to had NEVER had a legal representative while in detention.
• Family and friends on the outside play a large part in helping to find immigration lawyers for detainees
• Severe delays in accessing legal advice in centres are a major concern. 47% of detainees who sought legal aid advice were waiting over a week for an appointment, 20% waited over 2 weeks, and 27% waited over 3 weeks or 3 weeks to date to get an initial appointment.
• People with no means held in detention should not have to wait a month before they can see a lawyer, with a further wait to see whether their case has been taken on.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released its new UNHCR Detention Guidelines ("Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention") on September 21st.
UNHCR spokesperson Alice Edwards said at a press briefing: "The guidelines represent UNHCR policy and are intended as advice for governments and other bodies making decisions on detaining people."
Edwards added that UNHCR is particularly concerned that detention is in growing use in a number of countries. UNHCR research shows that irregular migration is not deterred even by stringent detention practises, and that practical alternatives to detention do exist. In addition, there are well-known negative and at times serious physical and psychological consequences for asylum-seekers in detention.
The new guidelines, reflecting the current state of the international law, supersede the ones last issued by UNHCR in 1999. They recognize the phenomenon of irregular migration as well as mixed movements of refugees and migrants that can strain asylum systems in many countries.
Edwards told the press briefing that the fundamental right to liberty and the prohibition of arbitrary detention applies to all people regardless of their immigration or other status. The right to seek asylum entails open and humane reception arrangements for asylum-seekers. Recent research on alternatives to detention, commissioned by UNHCR, shows that with community-based supervision arrangements, more than 90 per cent of asylum seekers comply with conditions of release from detention.
UNHCR called on states to make better use of alternatives to detention.